INQUIRING MINDS WANT TO KNOW: WHO DID VIRGINIAN LOBBYIST DAN COATS VOTE FOR IN 2000-2009 RACES?
As A Registered Voter in Virginia, Coats Can’t Even Sign His Own Petition to Run For Senate In Indiana
As registered lobbyist Dan Coats weighs a run for the United States Senate from Indiana, new information shows that Coats has not been a registered voter in Indiana for at least a decade. POLITICO is reporting that Coats, a resident of Falls Church, Virginia, voted in the Virginia primary and general elections of 2000, the 2002 and 2004 general elections, the primary and general elections of 2005, and in general elections in 2006, 2007, and 2008. As a registered Virginian voter and taxpayer, Coats cannot sign his own petition to run for Senate in Indiana.
“Being a Virginian and registered lobbyist is bad enough for Dan Coats. But right now Coats cannot even sign his own petition to run for Senate in Indiana,” said Deirdre Murphy, DSCC National Press Secretary. “Now that he is weighing running for office in Indiana, Hoosiers should question if a man who lobbies for special interests in DC and votes in Virginia, is the right person to represent them in the Senate.”
Numerous news outlets are reporting Coats is likely to run for the United States Senate from Indiana. Coats is a federally registered lobbyist whose client lists include banks, private equity firms, and defense contractors. Coats, a Washington DC insider who lined his own pockets as taxpayers spent $700 billion bailing out Wall Street banks, has not voted in Indiana in the past ten years.
Coats Would Be Unable to Sign His Own Nomination Petition. In order to sign the petition to nominate a candidate, that individual must be a duly qualified registered voter in Indiana. According to Politico, Coats is registered to vote in Virginia, not Indiana. [Indiana Petition Of Nomination For Federal, State, State Legislature Or Local Office; Politico, 2/03/10]
Politico: Coats registered to vote in Virginia, not Indiana
Ben Smith
February 3, 2010
http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0210/Coats_registered_to_vote_in_Virginia_not_Indiana.html?showall
Former Senator Dan Coats, who will challenge Evan Bayh for his old seat from Indiana, has resided and voted in Virginia for at least a decade, according to public records.
Coats, who resigned from the Senate in 1999, voted in the Virginia primary and general elections in 2000, according to data from the Virginia Secretary of State, provided by a Democratic source.
He voted in Virginia again in the 2002 and 2004 general elections, while he was serving as U.S. Ambassador to Germany; in the primary and general elections in 2005; and in general elections in 2006, 2007, and 2008. Data from the most recent election wasn't immediately available.
Coats residence, according to state election authorities, is in the Washington, D.C. suburb of Falls Chuch.
Coats decision to shift his registration and his residence away from his home state as soon as he left the Senate isn't unusual for retiring politicians who don't plan to return to elective office, but it adds ammunition to Democrats' charge that the former Senator, now a lobbyist, has gone Washington.
RSS Feeds
