The Indiana Second Congressional District openÐseat race was a no-holds barred fight with over $5 million spent by candidate and allies, two visits by the president, intensely negative TV ads which resulted in stations pulling ads for each candidate, and finally a narrow victory for Republican Chris Chocola. In the end, both candidates raised more than $1.5 million for their campaigns, money supplemented by more than $2 million in spending on issue advocacy ads by party and interest group allies.

Democrat Jill Long Thompson portrayed herself as a fiscal conservative representing “Hoosier Values.” She attacked Chocola for supporting privatization of Social Security, portraying Chocola as a representative of “corporate greed.” Chocola neutralized the Social Security issue by attacking Long Thompson for “voting to raid the social security trust fund seven times” and characterized her as representing the values of Jane Fonda, Hilary Clinton, and Ted Kennedy.

While interest groups were active for both candidates, party activity dominated both the air and ground wars.