Republican Sen. Mike Braun filed paperwork on Tuesday to run for Indiana Governor in 2024 to succeed Gov. Eric Holcomb (R), who is term-limited, creating an open U.S. Senate seat in the next election.
Braun confirmed to Politico that the paperwork was filed with the Indiana Secretary of State’s office Tuesday. He told the news organization on a brief phone call, “That filing did occur yesterday… We’ll talk to you down the road.”
The first-term Senator who defeated former Democrat Sen. Joe Donnelly in 2018 was reportedly leaning toward making a gubernatorial run in September. In 2018, he won the race with almost 51 percent of the vote after going through a wild primary between former Reps. Todd Rokita and Luke Messer.
Braun’s gubernatorial bid could end up kicking off a big Republican primary for governor and another big primary for his Senate seat.
The Senator will join Eric Doden and Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch in the race for Indiana Governor. Meanwhile, reports have shown that Reps. Victoria Spartz and Rep. Jim Banks have both voiced interest in running for the empty Senate seat.
Politico noted that Braun, a former executive of a distribution company, has been irritated at the speed it takes for anything to be done in the Senate. In fact, Hoosier State Republicans close to him Braun claimed he is better fitted to be an executive, which a governorship essentially is for a state.
All of this comes as Braun was one of the senators who ended up endorsing Sen. Rick Scott’s (R-FL) bid to oust Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) as Senate minority leader earlier this month, despite him being reelection to the top GOP spot in the upper chamber.
Jacob Bliss is a reporter for Breitbart News. Write to him at jbliss@breitbart.com or follow him on Twitter @JacobMBliss.
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