Congressman Michael Sodrel

Up until now, I’ve been focusing on congressional candidates from other states of the union, but it’s time I draw your attention to my home state of Indiana and to one of the most consistently hotly contested congressional seats. I’m talking about the battle for Indiana’s 9th Congressional District. In 1998, the long-time Democrat incumbent (Lee Hamilton) resigned his position, leaving an open election in 1998. Democrat Baron Hill beat out his Republican adversary 51% to 49%. In 2000, Hill...Read Full Story

In rural southern Indiana’s 9th Congressional District, Congressman Baron Hill (D) is trying to fight off former Representative Mike Sodrel (R), who wants his Congressional Seat back after he lost lost it in one of the most disastrous mid-term elections in Republican Party history. Sodrel is an amazing American and an astounding leader who truly represents the values and the people of Indiana’s 9th. Now, Representative Baron Hill is by no means a “Nancy Pelosi”. He doesn’t vote blindly with...Read Full Story

The Corydon Democrat reports Indiana 9th District Congressman Baron P. Hill faces three challengers this spring. “But the Democrat is expected to get his party’s nomination, setting up a fourth showdown with New Albany’s Mike Sodrel, who is unopposed in the Republican Primary,” the paper reports. Hill has won two races and lost one to Sodrel. Hill defeated Sodrel in 2002 and then lost in 2004 as a three-term incumbent. Hill then recaptured the seat in 2006. “Each of those races was decided by...Read Full Story

CQPolitics.com reports that few one-on-one congressional matchups have endured as long as that in Indiana’s 9th District, between Democratic Rep. Baron P. Hill and Republican former Rep. Mike Sodrel — whose announcement Tuesday that he is running again in the 2008 contest sets up a re-re-rematch between the two. Hill, a centrist Democrat who was first elected to the House in 1998, won his first matchup with Sodrel — the owner of a trucking, shipping and motor coach company — by a 5 percentage...Read Full Story

The Louisville Courier-Journal reports that former Rep. Mike Sodrel, R-Ind., planned to announce this afternoon “whether he’ll run for the 9th District seat in Congress again next year. If he runs, it would be the Republican businessman’s fourth straight head-to-head battle against Democrat Baron P. Hill, who won back the seat last year after losing to Sodrel in 2004. Hill won their first meeting in 2002 . . . Since being out of Congress, the 61-year-old Sodrel said, he has spent time as an...Read Full Story