Bayh’s Replacement Chosen?

Er, meet your next Democratic senator from the state of Indiana? Tamyra d’Ippolito, a little-known café owner from Indiana who was planning on challenging Bayh from the left, tells Talking Points Memo that she has met the required number of signatures to get on the ballot for the Democratic primary. The filing deadline is Tuesday and so, with Bayh just stepping down Monday, that means d’Ippolito will be the only candidate on the ballot. The state Democratic Party had hoped that the deadline would pass without a candidate, therefore allowing the party to choose whomever it wanted; if d’Ippolito does indeed have the signatures, Democrats will have to challenge her in the primary via a write-in campaign. On Monday, several right-wing blogs were encouraging their readers to sign d’Ippolito’s petition in hopes of disrupting the Democrats' process.