Published: November 10, 2008 06:10 pm      

Same candidates, different race in Ind. 9th District

Schansberg ‘can’t imagine Sodrel running again’

Though it featured the same candidates, Indiana’s 9th District race was very different this time around.

There was no slew of campaign press conferences. The president did not stop by to stump. The candidates didn’t have the negative television ads that drew so much ire two years ago.

And perhaps the most telling difference was the vote margin. Though not all counties have been counted, Rep. Baron Hill, D-Seymour, beat Republican challenger Mike Sodrel by more than 42,000 votes — a total that dwarfs margins from previous races.

In 2002, the pair’s first meeting, the difference was only 9,485 votes. In 2004, Sodrel bested Hill by a mere 1,425 votes. In 2006, Hill took the seat back with a 9,985 vote margin.

Sodrel declined a request for an interview for this story, though he issued a statement Election Night saying he was “at peace with the outcome.”

Additionally, a message left for 9th District Republican Chairman Larry Shickles on Thursday was not returned.

When Sodrel did win, it was a close race and he had President Bush and Gov. Mitch Daniels at the top of the ticket which likely helped, said Linda Gugin, professor of political science at Indiana University Southeast in New Albany.

“While [President-elect Barack] Obama did not carry the district, he did do better than anticipated,” she said.

Additionally, she noted that the Democrats were very organized and registered voters.

“A lot of it was the national mood,” said Joe Wert, a fellow political scientist at Indiana University Southeast.

“It was just a good year for Democrats.”

Sodrel didn’t have the money that he’d been able to garner in the past campaigns, Wert said. And the Republican National Committee, while it had more money than the Democrats, did not buy any local ads for Sodrel as it did in 2006.

“It seems like Sodrel’s campaign was lackluster this time.”

One of the lingering questions is whether or not Sodrel will run again after being so handily defeated.

“I would be surprised if he tried to run again,” Wert said.

He questions whether or not Sodrel would even have the support of local Republicans after being bested by Hill three times now.

Eric Schansberg, libertarian candidate in the race, said it likely came down to money for Sodrel.

“They were used to running pretty fat campaigns,” he said.

“I can’t imagine Sodrel running again.”