Alyssa Miller
Chief Reporter
Democrat Evan Bayh defeated Republican Marvin Scott on Tuesday in the race to represent Indiana in the U.S. Senate. With 43 percent of the precincts reporting, Bayh had a 62 percent to 38 percent advantage.
"I'm not here to move the state left or right but forward," Bayh said. "That's what this process is all about."
This will be Bayh's second term as Indiana's junior senator. He previously served as Indiana's secretary of state in 1986 and as Indiana governor from 1989 to 1997.
Scott, a professor of sociology at Butler University, said he doesn't regret campaigning for the senate seat.
"I really enjoyed this campaign ...," Scott said. "They (voters) need to bring Evan Bayh home to the people that he's supposed to represent in Washington, D.C. On all the issues, he's dead wrong."
Bayh said his number one priority in the U.S. Senate is creating and protecting jobs in Indiana. In the Senate, Bayh acts as the ranking member of the International Trade and Finance Committee and the Small Business Committee.
"As long as I have the privilege of working for the people of Indiana, I will make sure there is economic opportunity for everyone to get ahead," Bayh said. "I'll make sure there is strong national security in these hard times. I'll make sure there is affordable and accessible healthcare and education. I'll keep my fiscal responsibility so we don't pass our debt on to our children. Those are things I will champion still in the U.S. Senate."
As chairman of the International Trade and Finance Committee, Bayh authored an anti-terrorism bill to help catch terrorists who attempt to make financial transactions. He also sponsored the Bioterrorism Preparedness Act, which allocated $20 million to Indiana to prepare for bioterrorism threats. Bayh serves on both the Armed Services Committee and the Intelligence Committee in the U.S. Senate.
"As long as I have the privilege of representing you in Washington, I want to always be a leader who will reconcile differences and build bridges," Bayh said.
In 2000, Bayh authored an education bill to improve accountability and increase funding for the public school system, which ultimately led to President Bush's "No Child Left Behind" legislation. As governor of Indiana in 1990, Bayh created the 21st Century Scholars program that was designed to help students of low and moderate-income families attend college.
Bayh also served on the Senate Aging Committee, and he cosponsored the Nursing Home Resident Protection Amendment in 1999 to keep nursing homes from evicting residents who rely on Medicaid.
"I want the honor and privilege of helping our state and nation live out it's creed: 'One nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all'," Bayh said.
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