Rick Santorum’s abrupt exit from the GOP presidential race could turn out to be good for Richard Mourdock, the conservative challenging incumbent Dick Lugar for Indiana’s senate seat.
“It definitely helps us,” Mourdock told
Politico on the eve of the pair’s only debate, to be held in Indianapolis on Wednesday.
Mourdock said his supporters tend to be more committed than Lugar’s, so without a proper fight at the top of the ticket, turnout is likely to be down, and that will hit the 80-year-old six-term incumbent harder.
"The real grassroots politics, the ones that motivate people, were the ones that were out there more for Santorum. They're still going to be motivated, they're still going to get out and vote but I don't know that Romney's folks will," Mourdock, Indiana’s state treasurer, said.
“It probably keeps some of the fair weather voters home who might be more inclined to go with name ID, who don't really tune into the Senate race as much as they do a presidential race."
The Mourdock-Lugar debate is being televised nationally on C-Span, starting at 7 p.m. Eastern time. The primary will be held on May 8.
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