Rep. Dan Coats Given Quayle’s Seat in Senate

Rep. Dan Coats, who got his start in politics as an aide to Dan Quayle, was named Monday to take the vice president-elect’s seat in the Senate.

“I believe in providence,” said Coats, the Indiana Republican who had succeeded his boss in the House eight years earlier when Quayle moved up to the Senate.

Coats, 45, was elected to a fifth House term on Nov. 8, the same day that Quayle won the vice presidency as George Bush’s running mate.

Indiana Gov. Robert D. Orr announced Coats’ appointment at a news conference in Indianapolis, saying that he “represents values near and dear to the people of Indiana.”

Quayle, appearing with Coats on Capitol Hill, praised the Republican congressman as a dedicated family man and trusted friend. But he turned aside suggestions that Coats was his hand-picked successor.

‘Governor Made Decision’

“This was a one-man vote. The governor made the decision . . . . I did not make any specific recommendation,” Quayle said.

Coats thanked Quayle, Orr and Indiana’s senior senator, Republican Richard G. Lugar, for their support and promised great efforts on behalf of his Indiana constituents.

“I realize I’m not their elected senator. I’m their appointed senator. I hope over the next two years to work my very hardest to earn their respect and support,” he said.

He will serve until a special election in 1990, when voters will decide whether he or someone else should fill the last two years of Quayle’s term. An election for a full six-year Senate term will be held in 1992.

Quayle has announced that he will resign, probably effective Jan. 2, to allow his successor to gain seniority by being sworn in before the rest of the Senate on Jan. 3. However, Coats said he expected to be sworn in with the rest of the Senate.

Senate Republican leader Bob Dole issued a statement welcoming Coats to the Senate and saying he was confident Coats would “continue to represent the people of Indiana with vigor and commmitment to their heartland values.”