(CNN) Evan Bayh failed to recapture his old Senate seat in Indiana, according to a CNN projection, succumbing to a barrage of Republican attacks that stripped him of his once-sizable lead in the polls.
Rep. Todd Young will hold the Republican seat, complicating Democrats' efforts to take back the Senate. Bayh, a former governor and senator in the state and the scion of a famous political family, entered the race this summer at the last-minute urging of Democratic leadership.
He was once seen as a heavy favorite in the race but saw his numbers plummet as GOP groups targeted his career after leaving the Senate and painted him as a Washington insider.
Young defeated another US representative in a competitive Republican primary this spring.