INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Former lobbyist and Sen. Dan Coats says he doesn't think senators should be banned for life from becoming lobbyists.
Coats' opponent for the U.S. Senate, Democratic Rep. Brad Ellsworth, called for the lifetime ban Tuesday and said the revolving door in Washington must stop. He vowed to never take a job as a lobbyist.
Coats worked as a lobbyist after leaving the Senate in 1999 and says he favors current rules requiring senators to wait two years before registering as a lobbyist. In May he won the Republican primary for the Indiana Senate seat.
Coats said Wednesday that many people have a misconception of lobbyists' work and that they can help companies and states access their government.
Coats and Ellsworth are vying for the seat held by Democrat Evan Bayh, who is not seeking re-election.
Ellsworth told an Indianapolis news conference that his proposal against senators-turned-lobbyists isn't aimed at Coats alone. He said he's seen elected officials on both sides of the aisle use their positions to springboard themselves to a lucrative lobbying job. He said he's never been offered a lobbyist job and never would take one.
"It's time we put a wedge in that revolving door," Ellsworth said.
Republicans said Ellsworth likes to bash special interests on the campaign trail, but takes money from political action committees to fund his campaign. PACs have donated more than $800,000 to Ellsworth, or 52 percent of what he's raised, and donated more than $500,000 to Coats, making up 23 percent of his campaign receipts, according to campaign finance records.
Ellsworth said donations to his campaign don't affect his votes in Washington, and said money from PACs doesn't go into his pocket like a lobbyists' salary.
"It's a totally different story," he said.
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