Indiana currently has six Democrats and five Republicans in the
US House and US Senate. It would be fantastic if they had eleven
Republicans and zero Democrats after the 2010 General election,
and while it is actually possible, I doubt we can be so
lucky.

I am writing this piece to counter some of the articles I have
ran across this morning about how the losses by Stutzman and Risk
are signs of losses by the Tea Party people. There are three Tea
Party winners in Indiana's US House Districts one, two, and
nine.

In
the first congressional district Mark Leyva, a carpenter, is one
of the organizers of the tea party movement in Lake County. Leyva
said he's confident this time he can defeat Pete Visclosky,
who has faced recent ethics investigations concerning accusations
the congressman directed government money to campaign supporters.
The House Ethics Committee cleared Visclosky of any wrongdoing in
February, but in 2009 Visclosky was named one of the "most
corrupt" members of Congress by a government watchdog group.
On the campaign trail, Leyva said Democratic voters tell him,

Pete's got to go. He's been there too
long.

In
the second congressional district a state legislator and staunch
anti-abortion conservative, Jackie Walorski won Tuesday’s
Republican primary with 61% of the vote. She is the favored
candidate of the Tea Party movement who had this to say

This is our country. It is time we stand together and
take it back. This Constitution that I have raised my right hand
to defend is under direct assault and I will not stand for
it.

In
the ninth congressional district Attorney Todd Young of
Bloomington won a close GOP contest. Todd is a Fair Tax supporter
and a mainstay at tea parties. Nathan Gonzalez, political editor
of The Rothenberg Political Report, a national, non-partisan
newsletter covering congressional races, called Young’s
victory an upset – even though he’d been campaigning
vigorously since early last year.

It’s so hard to get known in this district and
defeat the high name ID that Sodrel started with. A victory
probably gives Young a boost going into the general election
fight because he has defeated a former congressman.

I don’t think Hill is vulnerable because of a particular
scandal or misstep. It’s because voters are concerned about
the direction of the country, concerned about Washington D.C. and
Democrats are in control of everything. That makes Hill
vulnerable.

Cross-posted at The Minority Report