Former Senator Dan Coats fought off a tougher-than-expected primary challenge from farmer and state Senator Marlin Stutzman to emerge with the Republican nomination in the race to replace retiring Democratic Senator Evan Bayh (who in turn replaced a retiring Coats back in 1998).  Coats received 41% to Stutzman's 32%, with other candidates, including former Congressman John Hostettler, splitting the remaining 27%.  Congressman Brad Ellsworth will receive the Democrats' nomination at a convention later this month.

In the battle for Congress, most everything went as expected.  Perenially underachieving Third District Congressman Mark Souder received a surprisingly poor 48 percent of the vote in his race, but most other Congressmen were re-nominated easily.  There are still  several  counties outstanding and several close races to call, but one race is of particular note:  It looks like former Congressman Mike Sodrel won't get a fifth try against Rep. Baron Hill.  As of this writing there are still counties outstanding, but it looks like conservative activist Travis Hankins will be the GOP  standard-bearer.

UPDATE:  Wow.  As of this writing, Kristi Risk, a tea party activist who has raised $26,000, defeated the GOP's preferred candidate who raised $250,000.  Looking at these numbers, I'm pretty sure that Stutzman would have defeated Coats in a head-to-head matchup.  There's something really big going on out there.

--------------------------------------------
Follow the RCP Blog on Twitter.
Become a fan of RCP on Facebook.
--------------------------------------------