Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN) has already launched a bid for Indiana’s open Senate seat in 2024. On the heels of losing out on the House majority whip role, the Trump loyalist is the first candidate on either side to declare he’s running for the seat being vacated by Republican Sen. Mike Braun, who has decided to run for governor in 2024. “We need conservatives in Washington who are not afraid to fight back against the radical socialist Democrats who are trying to change America,” Banks said in a statement. Banks voted against certifying the 2020 election on Jan. 6, 2021, and called on the Supreme Court to hear a Texas lawsuit alleging that the election was unconstitutional in an attempt to reinstate Donald Trump to the presidency. Braun won the seat by six percentage points in 2018, knocking out incumbent Democrat Joe Donnelly in the increasingly right-leaning state. Incumbent Republican Todd Young garnered close to 60 percent of the vote in November for Indiana’s other senate seat.
