Democrats are hopeful of winning a seat in the Senate in Indiana with a high profile candidate, Evan Bayh. There could be a little snag though. Bayh lives in Washington DC where he owns two homes worth millions. When he is in Indiana, he stays at a hotel using his campaign fund to pay for it. Candidates are expected to actually live in the state they represent in congress. Bayh insists he never left Indiana. Bayh still owns a condo in Indiana worth $53,000 but since he left the Senate, the average electricity bill has been about $20 dollars a month, suggesting it is never used.
In fact, as soon as he left the Senate in 2011, he moved to Washington and joined a high powered equity firm and soon he was made a partner in the high powered McGuire Woods Law Firm. On al of his documents he lists his Washington address as his residence. I suspect republicans will file a complaint against him. He portrays himself as a Washington outsider but it appears he is the ultimate insider.
A CNN review of public records since Bayh left office in 2011 shows the Democrat repeatedly listed his two multi-million dollar homes in Washington as his main places of residence — not the $53,000 condo he owns in Indianapolis.Just three weeks after leaving office in 2011, Bayh changed his address to his $2.3 million home in a leafy neighborhood in Washington, according to Indiana records. And often when Bayh registered his address — whether it was on an Alaska fishing license, a donation to Hillary Clinton or on the deed to his beachfront property in Southern Florida — he listed Washington as his home.Even when Bayh returned back to Indianapolis last summer for an Indiana Democratic Party dinner, he stayed at a JW Marriott just 12 miles away from his condo. A source with Indianapolis Power and Light said Bayh’s monthly electric bills averaged less than $20 per month since 2012, suggesting little — if any — use at his Indiana condo.
And when he hit the speaking circuit after his post-senatorial life, his firm noted that he travels “from D.C.”The revelations could add fodder to the GOP argument that the Democrats’ star recruit of the 2016 Senate class abandoned his home state to enjoy the luxuries of Washington. That’s reminiscent of how veteran Republican Sen. Dick Lugar was ousted in 2012 after he was lashed for living in the Washington suburbs rather than owning a home in Indiana.“The only time he ever shows up in Indiana is when he wants something from us,” said Trevor Foughty, campaign manager for Bayh’s GOP rival, Rep. Todd Young. “And he’s so unbelievably arrogant, he actually thinks Hoosiers don’t notice.”
Now, here’s the question. Why is Bayh leaving a job where he is making 3.7 million to take a Senate post for $174,000? Could it be that McGuire Woods is one of the 15 lobbyist firms in the country? Inquiring minds want to know.