Hard to Say Good-Bayh?

Evan Bayh’s headline-making entrance into Indiana’s 2016 U.S. Senate race brings a familiar name back to the front page in Hoosier State politics. Bayh previously served two terms in the chamber before retiring in 2010 while his father, Birch, served three terms ending with a 7.4-point loss to Republican Dan Quayle during the Reagan Revolution of 1980. Collectively, Birch (6,576 days) and Evan (4,384 days) served 10,960 days in the U.S. Senate, or 15.0 percent of the 72,898 days since Indiana achieved statehood in December 1816 (through July 12th). The Bayhs are the only father-son duo to serve in the U.S. Senate from Indiana, although the state previously had an uncle-nephew linkage in the 19th Century with William Hendricks (1825-1829; 1829-1837) and Thomas Hendricks (1863-1869).