INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana's river country - the 17 state line counties on the banks of the Ohio and Wabash - had long been advantageous to the political fortunes of the Bayh family. When Birch Bayh first ran for the U.S. Senate in 1962, only Crawford and Spencer counties went Republican.

Six years later, Sen. Bayh lost only Spencer. In 1974, he carried all 17 counties. When he finally lost to Dan Quayle in 1980, the Republican won Knox, Spencer and Jefferson. Ditto for Gov. Evan Bayh, who drubbed Republicans throughout this corridor with 60 to 70% of the vote. In his two U.S. Senate races, Evan Bayh carried all the river counties, including Vigo, Sullivan, Knox and Perry with more than 70%.

But the last time Evan Bayh ran, in 2016 when he tried to reclaim his Senate seat, only Vigo and Perr

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