Dan Coats is a lobbyist and politician who served in the United State Senate from 1989 to 1999. Coats is a Republican candidate in the 2010 United States Senatorial race, running against Democratic candidate Brad Ellsworth and Libertarian candidate Rebecca Sink-Burris in Indiana.http://www.idsnews.com/news/story.aspx?id=77525 The Senate seat was previously occupied by Democrat Evan Bayh. http://www.courierpress.com/news/2010/oct/03/dan-coats/

Coats was born on May 16, 1943, in Jackson, Michigan. His parents were Edward R. and Vera Coats.http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/10/06/how-old-is-daniel-r-coats/ Dan has been married to his wife Marsha (formerly Marsha Anne Crawford) for 45 years, and they have three adult children, Lisa, Laura, and Andrew.http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/10/06/is-daniel-r-coats-married/ Coats has seven grandchildren.http://indianapublicmedia.org/election/races/us-senate/dan-coats/

Dan Coats received his undergraduate degree at Wheaton College in Political Science, and received his law degree from the Indiana University School of Law. Coats served in the United States Army from 1966-1968.http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=C000542 Coats served as Indiana Director for Congressman Dan Quayle from 1977-1980.http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/biog/6087.htm Coats served in the United States House of Representatives from 1981-1988. Coats served in the United States Senate for the state of Indiana from 1989-1999. He then was employed at the lobbying firm of Verner, Liipfert, Bernhard, McPherson and Hand, until he was appointed U.S. Ambassador to Germany from 2001-2005.http://politics.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2010/02/26/10-things-you-didnt-know-about-dan-coats.htmlWhen he returned to the United States, he was employed as a lobbyist with King & Spalding in Washington, D.C.http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/194263/coats-challenge-bayh/robert-costa In May of 2010 Coats won the Indiana Senate Republican primary to become the Republican candidate for the 2010 United States Senatorial race.http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/04/AR2010050405742.html

Dan Coats is a conservative Republican who is pro-life, does not support gay marriage, and does not support a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants.http://www.coatsforindiana.com/issues/immigration/http://www.idsnews.com/news/story.aspx?id=77525 According to his website, he has decided to run for the United States Senate because he “could no longer stand idly by and passively watch without getting back in the arena and trying my best to stop the madness in Washington – to restore some balance to our system and be a check against the policies of Obama-Pelosi-Ellsworth."http://www.coatsforindiana.com/issues/why-im-running/ Coats has been criticized for his employment as a lobbyist with the Washington, D.C. firm King & Spalding, since the firm outsources and also conducts business with Planned Parenthood.http://www.nuvo.net/indianapolis/dan-coats-excellent-lobbying-adventure/Content?oid=1394186 http://www.courierpress.com/news/2010/oct/03/dan-coats/