By Armen Toumajan
Congressional Quarterly

Electoral votes: 12

Delegates: 88

Chairman: Robin Winston

Hotel: Holiday Inn City Center (213) 748-1291

1996 Election:
Dole – 47%
Clinton – 42%
Perot – 11%

One issue loomed over all others as Indiana's 88 delegates prepared this summer to head to the Democratic convention in Los Angeles: whether their party's presidential standard-bearer, Vice President Al Gore, would choose their home-state hero, U.S. Sen. Evan Bayh, as his vice presidential running mate.

Bayh's accomplishments by the age of 44 earned him an early and prominent spot on pundits' short lists of Gore's potential choices. The son of former Democratic Sen. Birch Bayh became Indiana's secretary of state in 1986, when he was 31, and won his first of two terms as governor just two years later. He was the keynote speaker at the 1996 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

A fiscal conservative who maintained soaring public approval ratings in his usually Republican-leaning state, Bayh won an open-seat Senate race in 1998 with 64 percent of the vote - making him the first Democrat since his father in 1974 to win a Senate contest.

Nancy Ann Brown, office manager at the Bartholomew County Regional Education Media Center and a delegate to this year's convention, said Bayh would be an excellent choice if Gore is looking for a candidate from the Midwest.

"He is respected not only in the state of Indiana but throughout the nation," said Brown, who last served as a delegate in 1980.

Bayh's influence has been far-reaching in his home state. "All across Indiana, Evan Bayh has been a major player," said Bloomington Mayor John Fernandez, saying that he had made "a tremendous impact on rejuvenating the Indiana Democratic Party." Fernandez, like Bayh, defines himself as a centrist "New Democrat."

Not since President Lyndon B. Johnson defeated Republican Barry Goldwater in 1964 has a Democratic candidate carried Indiana. An Indiana Republican, Dan Quayle, was George Bush's running mate on the 1988 and 1992 GOP tickets that carried the state.

But Fernandez contended that Bayh's name would definitely boost Gore's chances of putting in play a state that this year's Republican nominee, Texas Gov. George W. Bush, is counting on winning. "We'd love to have [Bayh] here on the ballot in Indiana," Fernandez said.

Gore easily defeated his already vanquished rival, former New Jersey Sen. Bill Bradley, in Indiana's May 2 primary, claiming about 75 percent of the vote. Of the state's 88 delegates, only four are Bradley delegates.

Delegates interviewed by Congressional Quarterly voiced strong support for Gore. "He's absolutely on target with the issues," said Victoria Candelaria, president of the Indiana Federation of Teachers and one of a handful of Hispanic delegates in the delegation this year. Candelaria said she believes that Gore's emphasis on "education and workingmen's issues" will be beneficial for both the state and the country.

Gov. Frank L. O'Bannon, a convention delegate, is seeking re-election this year and faces a tough challenge from Republican Rep. David M. McIntosh. The four Democrats who represent Indiana in the U.S. House - Peter J. Visclosky, Tim Roemer, Baron P. Hill and Julia Carson - are delegates to the Los Angeles convention; all are favored to win re-election this year.

State Democratic Party Chairman Robin Winston is doubling as delegation chairman this year. Joe Andrew, national chairman of the Democratic National Committee and a former state party chairman, is also a Hoosier State delegate.

INDIANA NOTABLES: U.S. Sen. Evan Bayh; Gov. Frank L. O'Bannon; Joe Andrew, national chairman of the Democratic National Committee and a former Indiana Democratic Party chairman; U.S. Reps. Julia Carson, Baron P. Hill, Tim Roemer and Peter J. Visclosky; Indiana Democratic Party Chairman Robin Winston, the delegation chairman; Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson.