He was defeated in the November election by Dan Coats, who had previously held the seat from 1989 to 1999, taking 40 percent of the vote. Ellsworth even lost his own congressional district; he carried Vigo County (home to Terre Haute) but failed to carry his home county of Vanderburgh. State representative Trent Van Haaften replaced Ellsworth on the ballot for the 8th, but lost to Republican Larry Bucshon with only 37 percent of the vote. The Democrats have only crossed the 40 percent mark in the district only once since Ellsworth left office.