Published Wednesday 05 of May, 2010
AMANDA HAMON • ahamon at jconline com
The 16 candidates vying to run for the 4th District congressional seat
were whittled to two Tuesday.
Indiana Secretary of State Todd Rokita took home the Republican nomination
while David Sanders, a Purdue University biology professor, easily won the
Democratic nod.
The victor in the November election will replace outgoing Rep. Steve Buyer
in the sprawling 4th District, which stretches from Monticello to Bedford.
Unofficial final results showed Rokita with 4,576 votes in Tippecanoe
County, 578 votes ahead of his nearest opponent, Brandt Hershman, Buck
Creek. Jim Hass, the other candidate from Tippecanoe, garnered 862 votes.
Sanders defeated Lafayette resident Tara Nelson and Whiteland resident
Mark Powell, who stopped campaigning in March. Sanders handily won in
Tippecanoe County, unofficial results showed.
He ran against Buyer in 2004 and 2006.
If elected in November, “I’ll be one in one life scientists in Congress,
and that will give me a unique opportunity to bring jobs here to the 4th
District,” Sanders said.
Some Lafayette voters said they voted for candidates they thought would be
fiscally responsible and help the weak economy.
