Baron Hill for Congress 2006

The Courier Journal reports that Baron Hill is contemplating a return to his seat in Washington. I wish him the best and I hope he returns as an elected official once more.

Former U.S. Rep. Baron Hill said yesterday that he might form an exploratory committee in the next 30 days to raise money for a possible campaign next year to win his old job back.

Hill, a Democrat, represented Indiana's 9th District in the U.S. House from 1999 through 2004. He narrowly lost a bid for a fourth term to Republican Mike Sodrel last fall.

"I want to learn from this defeat," Hill said yesterday in a telephone interview from his home in Seymour. "I want to make lemonade out of the lemons that were dealt to me."

Over the next 30 days, Hill said, he will travel the district to speak with voters and learn more about the factors that influenced November's election.

He said key Democrats in Washington already have indicated they will support a possible campaign next year. He said he now wants to hear from voters as well.

While the exploratory committee would be able to raise money, Hill said a formal announcement on any candidacy probably wouldn't come until early next year.[...]

Amy Walter, an analyst for a non-partisan political newsletter in Washington called The Cook Political Report, said Sodrel is one of perhaps only two House Republicans facing races that are considered "tossups" in 2006.

His vulnerabilities include his freshman status, she said, along with the fact that last year's race was so close and Hill's name recognition and fund-raising potential.

In addition, the mid-term election during the second term of a sitting president typically has seen the opposition party gain seats in Congress.

Since the end of World War II, Walter said, the party of a second-term president has lost an average of 29 seats in the House and six seats in the Senate in those elections.

Sarah Feinberg, a spokeswoman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said Hill's knowledge of the district makes him "a gold-standard candidate."

"We view Sodrel's seat as very vulnerable," Feinberg said, adding that financial support from the national party would be considered at a later date.

A spokesman for Sodrel declined to comment on Hill's possible candidacy.

Hill, meanwhile, said he wants to hear voters' opinions on issues such as same-sex marriage and the proposed introduction of voluntary private accounts to the Social Security system.

Hill described his chances of running as "50-50 right now," with public opinion a key part of his decision.

The 9th District stretches from just east of Evansville to the Cincinnati suburbs along the Ohio River.

Hill, 51, served in the Indiana General Assembly from 1983 to 1990 and also was a high school basketball star in Seymour.

Since February he has been working as a senior adviser for mCapitol Management, a Washington consulting firm. He said he enjoys the new position, but not as much as his former job.

"I'm pushing the ball upcourt," he said of his possible campaign. "My passion is Congress."

Go get 'em, Congressman Hill! Hill replaced Lee Hamilton in Congress.