WASHINGTON – Former Fort Wayne resident Dan Coats, a member of Congress for 18 years and most recently a Washington lobbyist, is forming an exploratory committee to run for the Republican Senate nomination and a chance to challenge Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind.

A senior Republican official said the announcement is not likely to be made until after the Super Bowl this weekend and that the national Republican Party has promised help in getting the necessary 4,500 signatures to make him eligible for the primary ballot. He would have less than three weeks to obtain 500 signatures in each of the state's nine congressional districts.

Coats, 66, was the congressman from northeast Indiana before being appointed a senator in 1989 when Dan Quayle resigned to become vice president. He did not run for re-election in 1998, the year Bayh won with more than 60 percent of the vote.

Coats became a lobbyist and then was appointed ambassador to Germany by former President George W. Bush. After returning stateside in 2005, Coats resumed his lobbying career. He was one of two people Bush considered to name as Defense secretary; he chose Donald Rumsfeld.

Coats would enter a Republican primary that already has several declared candidates, including state Sen. Marlin Stutzman and former Rep. John Hostettler.

Bayh, who faces no opposition in the Democratic primary, has $12.9 million in his campaign fund.