Rep. Baron Hill (D) Elected 1998, 3d term
Born:	June 23, 1953, Seymour
Home:	Seymour
Education:	Furman U., B.A. 1975
Religion:	Christian
Marital Status:	married (Betty)
Elected  Office:	IN House of Reps., 1982-90.
Professional Career:	The Hill Agency (insurance), 1975-90; Exec. Dir., IN Student Assistance Comm., 1990-94; Financial analyst, Merrill Lynch, 1994-98.
Additional Info
Recent Articles · Offices · Committees · Ratings · Key Votes · Election Results District Demographics
More On Indiana
At A Glance · State Profile District Map Redistricting · Almanac Home

The southeastern corner of Indiana was a busy place when settlers rafted down the Ohio River in the early 19th Century. They were mostly Southerners, "Butternuts," from across the river in Kentucky or over the mountains in Virginia, and they built the first large Indiana settlements. Today, you can see their work in the marvelous old buildings of Madison, now quiet but once one of the busiest ports on the Ohio River. Farther down the river is Corydon, from 1816-25 the state capital, now the hometown of Governor Frank O'Bannon. The early 19th century buildings here have been well preserved because these towns were bypassed first by the railroads, then by U.S. routes and interstate highways, and they certainly are remote from major airports. The river is still an artery of commerce, but utilitarian barges have replaced steamers, except for riverboat casinos.

Butternut Indiana retained its affection for things Southern into the Civil War and beyond. Local politician Jesse Bright was expelled from the U.S. Senate in 1862 for "supporting the rebellion." To this day, the hills along the Ohio River typically vote Democratic, as do the Indiana suburbs of Louisville. But to the east, Indiana is now filling up with migrants from Cincinnati--a Yankee and German abolitionist bastion in Jesse Bright's time, an overwhelmingly Republican stronghold in ours--who are moving the southeast corner of Indiana away from its ancestral party.

The 9th Congressional District is made up of most of the state's Ohio River counties. Since 2001 redistricting, it has included the Indiana University campus in Democratic-leaning Bloomington. Most of the district is ancestrally Democratic and culturally conservative; much of it has recently been trending Republican, particularly in the suburbs of Louisville and Cincinnati.

The congressman from the 9th District is Baron Hill, a Democrat elected in 1998. Hill grew up in Seymour, the small town of John Mellencamp's song "Small Town." He played basketball for Furman, which later won him induction into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame with the more famous Larry Bird, then returned home to a family insurance business. In 1982, at 29, he was elected to the state House and served eight years. In 1990 he ran against Senator Dan Coats and, despite a huge money disadvantage, held him to a 54%-46% win. Governor Evan Bayh appointed Hill to head the state student assistance agency; then he worked for Merrill Lynch. In 1997, Democratic Congressman Lee Hamilton, who represented the district for 34 years and became chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, announced his retirement. Hill plunged into the race. His opponent was Jean Leising, a former state senator who gave Hamilton two competitive challenges. Against Hill, she began the campaign ahead, presumably because she was better known. She featured Charlton Heston in TV ads and called in national Republicans to campaign but Hill raised nearly twice as much money. In his 1990 Senate race he had walked the state, from the Ohio River to Lake Michigan; this time he walked 400 miles through all 21 counties of the district starting in July. Hill was behind in polls in late October, but he unleashed two ads that may have made the difference. In one, he said Leising wanted to abolish federal education funding (she said she wanted the money to go to local schools without strings); in the other, he claimed she wanted to privatize Social Security (Leising said she was looking for ways for young people to invest a portion of Social Security taxes). Helped by last minute campaigning from Hamilton and O'Bannon and a solid get-out-the-vote campaign, Hill won 51%-48%.

In the House, Hill has leaned toward the center and joined the Blue Dogs, to the occasional dismay of the party's interest groups. He has voted for the partial-birth abortion ban. In 2000, he was denounced by a United Steelworkers local for his vote in favor of PNTR with China, which he said would benefit Indiana farmers and autoworkers; still, the Chamber of Commerce refused to support his reelection. As a closely watched swing vote, he held firm to support George W. Bush's request for trade promotion authority. And he bucked organized labor again by opposing the proposal to give collective-bargaining rights to employees of the new Homeland Security Department. He joined a group of deficit-conscious Democrats who said they would consider spending controls.

Hill has remained high among the House Republicans' targets, but they have not nominated a candidate with a strong party background. The district includes counties in the Louisville, Cincinnati, Indianapolis and Evansville television markets and not all can be reached by a single radio station; it is an expensive district to run in. In 2000, Indiana Republicans recruited Kevin Kellems, a former aide to Senator Richard Lugar, whom they were convinced would be a strong challenger. But Kellems met an unexpected obstacle: Michael Bailey, who ran graphic ads showing aborted fetuses. Kellems lost 14 of the district's 21 counties and Bailey won, 51%-49%. A surprised and embarrassed NRCC removed the district from its target list, and Speaker Dennis Hastert called it "a second-tier race." Remaking himself as a populist, Bailey seized on Hill's voting to style himself as an opponent of free trade and sought support from unions, winning a local Teamsters endorsement. Hill was aided by the National Rifle Association's support. He won, 54%-44%, though he lost seven counties in the Cincinnati and Indianapolis metro orbits. In 2002, trucking and bus-company owner Mike Sodrel easily won the Republican primary over two other challengers. As a first-time candidate and without attracting much local or national attention, Sodrel raised more than $1 million (more than $900,000 from his own pocket) and called himself a victim of federal regulations for 30 years. He identified closely with Bush. National Republicans ran an ad criticizing Hill for telling an audience that he liked the idea of government investing Social Security funds. This time, Hill won 51%-46%, again losing seven counties.

Although Sodrel said that he would not likely run again, Hill could have a serious challenge in 2004. In December 2002, Hill drew serious mention as a candidate for governor when Lieutenant Governor Joe Kernan bowed out of the race. But in January 2003, Hill announced he would not seek the governorship.

Recent News Coverage
Search the CongressDaily, Hotline, House Race Hotline, National Journal and Technology Daily archives using the form below:

DC Office
1024 LHOB 20515, 202-225-5315; Fax: 202-226-6866; Web site: www.house.gov/baronhill

State Offices
Jeffersonville, 812-288-3999.

Committees

• Chief Deputy Minority Whip
.
• Agriculture (8th of 24 D): Department Operations, Oversight, Nutrition & Forestry; General Farm Commodities & Risk Management; Specialty Crops & Foreign Agriculture Programs.
• Armed Services (17th of 29 D): Readiness; Terrorism, Unconventional Threats & Capabilities.
• Joint Economic Committee (10th of 10 Reps.).

Group Ratings (More Info)
	ADA	ACLU	AFS	LCV	CON	ITIC	NTU	COC	ACU	NTLC	CHC
2002	70	64	78	13	75	88	25	65	28	21	33
2001	75	--	89	64	--	--	27	50	32	--	--

National Journal Ratings (More Info)
	2001 LIB	--	2001 CONS		2002 LIB	--	2002 CONS
Economic	64%	--	36%		61%	--	39%
Social	59%	--	41%		62%	--	37%
Foreign	56%	--	41%		61%	--	38%
For National Journal's complete 2002 Vote Ratings, as well as previous ratings dating back to 1995, please click here.

Key Votes Of The 107th Congress (More Info)
1. Approve Bush Tax Cuts N 2. Limit Patients' Bill of Rights N 3. Campaign Finance Reform Y 4. Ban ANWR Development Y 5. Faith-Based Charities N 6. Bar Gays in the Boy Scouts N		7. Ban Partial-Birth Abortion Y  8. Arm Commercial Pilots Y  9. Trade Promotion Authority Y 10. Bar Funds for Intl. Court Y 11. Authorize Force in Iraq Y 12. Deny Home. Sec. Dept. Union Y

Election Results (More Info)
	Candidate	Total Votes	Percent	Expenditures
2002 general	Baron Hill (D)	96,654	51%	$1,144,666
	Mike Sodrel (R)	87,169	46%	$1,626,646
	Other	5,134	3%
2002 primary	Baron Hill (D)	unopposed
2000 general	Baron Hill (D)	126,420	54%	$981,802
	Michael E. Bailey (R)	102,219	44%	$218,270
	Other	4,644	2%
Prior winning percentages: 1998 (51%)

2000 presidential
	Bush (R)	142,694	56%
	Gore (D)	106,417	42%
	Other	4,288	2%
For 1992 and 1996 presidential results in the Ninth District, please see the Almanac 2000 online. Please note that these older returns reflect district lines as they existed prior to 2002 redistricting.

• Cook Partisan Voting Index: R + 8
• District Size: 6,670 square miles
• Population in 2000: 675,599; 52.3% urban; 47.7% rural
• Median Household Income: $39,011; 10.5% are below the poverty line
• Occupation: 34.4% blue collar; 50.6% white collar; 15.0% gray collar; 13.0% military veterans
• Race/Ethnic Origin: 94.0% White, 2.3% Black, 0.9% Asian, 0.2% Amer. Indian, 0.0% Hawaiian, 0.9% Two+ races, 0.1% Other, 1.5% Hispanic origin
• Ancestry: 19.9% German, 12.2% USA, 8.7% Irish
• Click here for statewide demographic data.