Evan Bayh on running for Senate, Indiana residency
Bayh talks about why he's running, his life after the Senate, Susan Bayh's health and his Indy apartment
WASHINGTON — Former Sen. Evan Bayh said the same partisanship and gridlock that prompted his 2010 retirement is the reason he is seeking to return to the Senate.
“Things in Washington have only gotten worse, and it grieves me to see what’s happened in our country, the unmet challenges that so many of our families face,” Bayh told IndyStar in his first media interview after announcing Wednesday he was entering the race. “I just concluded that I couldn’t stand on the sidelines anymore and needed to do what I could to try and bring us together to meet our challenges.”
The former two-term senator and two-term governor would replace former Rep. Baron Hill, who won the Democratic primary for Indiana’s open Senate seat but withdrew from the ticket Monday. That cleared the way for the state party to pick Bayh when leaders meet July 22 to choose a new candidate in the race to succeed retiring GOP Sen. Dan Coats.
Bayh's entrance instantly makes the race against GOP Rep. Todd Young more competitive because of Bayh's name recognition, his winning electoral record and the more than $9 million in leftover campaign money he has on hand.
It also increases Democrats' chance of regaining control of the Senate. But Bayh disputed reports that his return was engineered by Sen. Chuck Schumer, the New York Democrat expected to become the leader of Senate Democrats next year. He declined to say whether he spoke with presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton about the race.
Republicans quickly labeled Bayh a “retread, out-of-touch, lobbyist” who is part of the problem in Washington. But Bayh said his post-Senate work did not qualify as lobbying, and voters care more about progress than the political process of how he ended up in the race. Here’s a transcript of the interview, edited for clarity and space.
Question: Why are you running?
Answer: When I retired, it was because I was fed up with the gridlock, and I wanted to spend more time with my sons when they were young. Since then, things in Washington have only gotten worse, and it grieves me to see what’s happened in our country, the unmet challenges that so many of our families face. I just concluded that I couldn’t stand on the sidelines anymore and needed to do what I could to try and bring us together to meet our challenges.
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Q: What would be different if you came back?
A: I have no illusions. It will be hard. This dysfunction in Washington didn’t occur overnight, and it’s not going to be solved overnight. But I do think there may be a unique opportunity, with a new president of whichever party, with some new leadership in the Senate, with a new speaker of the House — most of all, with the public just being fed up with the partisanship and the ideology that they’re going to insist that we work together as Democrats and Republicans. That’s what I want to contribute to.
Q: Some see the political system as a rigged. How do you think it looks when it appears you’re replacing Hill to give Democrats a better chance of taking the Senate?
A: Baron made his decision, and then I had a difficult one to make and made mine.
The public doesn’t care about political process. They care about progress. And that’s what I’m all about. How do we create good jobs that will support middle-class families? How do we make college more affordable like we did with the 21st Century Scholars scholarship program here in Indiana? What do we do to secure our country at a time of international peril? How do we get sensible trade agreements that don’t let our jobs and companies get ripped off anymore? I think that’s what Hoosier voters will focus on.
Q: Politico quoted Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., as saying Schumer persuaded you to run.
A: Ha! I’m laughing. If I did this because somebody nationally was urging me to do it, that’s just wrong. I’m doing this for one reason and one reason only. And that’s because I care about the people of our state. I care about the kind of future that all of our children will inherit one day. And I want to do what I can to make that a better future. I care about Hoosiers, not anybody in Washington, D.C.
Q: So what role did Chuck Schumer play?
A: None. I made this decision on my own, thinking about what’s right for our state, what I can do to maybe help to bridge the divide that exists in our society. I wasn’t “talked into this” by anybody. That’s just incorrect.
Q: But you talked to him about it?
A: Over the last few days, I’ve talked to a lot of people. But this was my decision based on what I think is right.
Q: Is one of the people you talked to Hillary Clinton?
A: Again, I’m doing this because of what I want to do for middle-class families and for Indiana. There is no one on earth who could’ve talked me into this for anything other than the right reasons.
Q: But did you talk to Hillary Clinton about this?
A: I’m not going to get into personal conversation except to say my decision was mine alone based upon what I think is right to try to solve the challenges we face.
Q: If you win, would you serve a full term? In other words, if Clinton becomes president and taps you for a Cabinet position after a year or two, would you leave the Senate?
A: I fully intend to serve my full term. I have no other expectation.
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Q: When you left the Senate, you talked about the special interests being entrenched in Washington. You’ve since become an adviser to businesses through your job at the McGuireWoods law firm. Have you been serving the special interests?
A: It’s meant the world to me that I’ve gotten to spend more time with my kids while they grew up and then they went off to college. That was on my mind when I made the decision to retire.
No. 2, when I was governor, I had a chance to balance the budget and work with companies to create jobs and to grow our economy. I’ve been able to provide some advice to businesses to do the same. I think that’s good.
Q: Even though you’re not a registered lobbyist, does the advice you’ve been giving to companies qualify as lobbying?
A: No. This is advice I was offering companies, not contacting the government.
For example, a company thinking about making an investment in the defense area, they would ask my opinion generally about "What do you think is likely to happen with the defense budget going forward? How do you think the security posture will be in different parts of the world and will the activities that we need to have there be on a similar level?" Those kind of broad strategic advice is what I’ve done.
Q: Republicans are also pointing out that you own two expensive homes in Washington and a Florida apartment, while your Indianapolis apartment is small.
A: Susan and I spent the last couple of nights at our Indianapolis home, and we like it.
If Congressman Young and his allies want to attack me, that’s their decision. I’m going to attack the challenges that face Hoosier families and our country. That’s why I’m running.
Q: Your legal residence is still Indiana?
A: Yes. If you were sitting in front of me, I’d pull out my drivers license and show you. We come home frequently. We have a home here. I pay property taxes. I’ve got an electric bill, a gas bill.
I am a proud Hoosier. Can I sing you the Indiana University fight song? Would that help? I’m not very good at that, but I’d be happy to if that would help establish my bona fides.
Q: Have you taken leaves of absence from your current jobs? (In addition to being a partner at McGuireWoods, Bayh is a senior adviser in the New York private equity firm Apollo Global Management, serves on the board of directors for several companies, serves on the advisory board for the CIA and has been a contributor to Fox News.)
A: We’re going to juggle that as we go forward and figure that out in the days ahead.
Q: Are you still a commentator for Fox News?
A: No. I resigned that a day or two ago.
Q: Republicans have also criticized your vote for the Affordable Care Act. Was that the right decision?
A: There were good things about that and things that need to be changed. I think it’s a good thing that our Republican governor decided to expand health care coverage to hundreds of thousands of families under Medicaid. I think it’s a really good thing that insurance companies can’t kick people off their health care coverage because they have pre-existing illnesses or if they get cancer or have a heart attack. We ought to keep those things. There are some things that ought to be changed. We ought to expand the definition of a small business to make fewer subject to the law. We ought to expand the definition of the work week. Some of those kinds of things.
But I’ll tell you what we also ought to do. Susan and I, with her situation, we ended up getting a $90,000 bill (after her surgery to remove a benign brain tumor in 2015). We have insurance. That would’ve bankrupted hundreds of thousands of Indiana families. That should never have been allowed to happen again. That’s a part of the law we need to keep.
Q: Susan’s health is OK?
A: I wouldn’t be doing this if that were the case. She’s sitting right here.
Susan Bayh: I’m up for it. We’re very, very happy to do it.
Q: I also want to ask you about Gov. Mike Pence, who is on the short list to be Donald Trump’s running mate. You’ve been in this position before. Do you have any advice to handle what he’s going through?
A: That would be presumptuous on my part. I’m sure he and Karen and their kids will handle it. It can be kind of stressful, but also exhilarating. I’m always happy when a Hoosier is considered for a prominent public position.
Email Maureen Groppe at mgroppe@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter: @mgroppe.