Jim Banks Launches Indiana Senate Bid

This morning, Congressman Jim Banks (R., Ind.) officially announced his 2024 candidacy for the U.S. Senate election in Indiana. The news, which was first reported by the Indiana Capital Chronicle, makes Banks the first candidate to throw his hat in the ring for what will likely be a competitive GOP primary for a safe red seat. (The seat’s current occupant, Senator Mike Braun, announced last month that he would be retiring to run for Indiana governor.)

The upcoming Republican primary has already begun to attract interest from national media as a flash point in the ongoing debate about the future of the party. Banks, a rising star in the populist–nationalist wing of the House GOP, is widely expected to face off against former Indiana governor Mitch Daniels, a heavy hitter in the Republican old guard whose interest in the Senate seat has been the subject of significant speculation — though he has not yet announced a bid. Last month, an early survey of the field from a Daniels pollster showed the former governor atop the field with support from about a third of the GOP primary electorate, an early advantage likely owing in part to Daniels’s relatively strong name recognition in the state.

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Nate Hochman

Nate Hochman was a staff writer at National Review.

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This morning, Congressman Jim Banks (R., Ind.) officially announced his 2024 candidacy for the U.S. Senate election in Indiana. The news, which was first reported by the Indiana Capital Chronicle, makes Banks the first candidate to throw his hat in the ring for what will likely be a competitive GOP primary for a safe red seat. (The seat’s current occupant, Senator Mike Braun, announced last month that he would be retiring to run for Indiana governor.)

The upcoming Republican primary has already begun to attract interest from national media as a flash point in the ongoing debate about the future of the party. Banks, a rising star in the populist–nationalist wing of the House GOP, is widely expected to face off against former Indiana governor Mitch Daniels, a heavy hitter in the Republican old guard whose interest in the Senate seat has been the subject of significant speculation — though he has not yet announced a bid. Last month, an early survey of the field from a Daniels pollster showed the former governor atop the field with support from about a third of the GOP primary electorate, an early advantage likely owing in part to Daniels’s relatively strong name recognition in the state.