INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Republican Rep. Jim Banks, a defender of former President Donald Trump, announced on Tuesday that he is running for the U.S. Senate seat in Indiana being vacated by GOP Sen. Mike Braun.
Banks is the first candidate to formally enter the Senate race since Braun said in December that he would forgo a 2024 reelection bid and run instead for Indiana governor. Banks’ announcement comes days after Donald Trump Jr. and the Washington-based anti-tax Club for Growth began attacking former Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels as insufficiently conservative while Daniels ponders whether to also seek the Senate seat.