Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.), who has been a favorite of the credit union trade associations, may face a serious challenge from former Sen. Dan Coats (R-Ind.).
Bayh, the number five Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, has received $3,500 from CUNA's Credit Union Legislative Action Council during the current six-year election cycle and $1,920 from NAFCU's National Association of Federal Credit Unions Political Action Committee.
Coats, who announced his intention to run today, will have to win a GOP primary before facing Bayh, who has held the seat (which was occupied for 18 years by his father Sen. Birch Bayh) since Coats left office in 1999. Since he left the Senate, Coats has been a lobbyist and the United States Ambassador to Germany.
There are already four candidates who are seeking the GOP nomination for the right to challenge Bayh.
