After 36 years in the Republican column, Indiana’s Senate seat has switched parties as Congressman Joe Donnelly defeated Republican Richard Mourdock Tuesday.
Considered one of the key races in determining control of the U-S Senate, the race between the two candidates – separated by a razor-thin margin for months – was colored by a significant influx of outside money and negative ads.
National groups sought to paint Mourdock as a Tea Party extremist who would further polarize Washington while Donnelly was portrayed as a lackey for President Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
Donnelly says Tuesday’s victory carries on a tradition for Hoosiers in the US Senate.
“And that tradition are people like Richard Lugar and Evan Bayh, who worked together, whose only focus is on what’s right for our country,” Donnelly said.
The turning point of the race likely came in the final debate, in which Mourdock said he believed pregnancies from rape were something God intended to happen.
Mourdock Tuesday said he was attacked for standing for his principles.