Republican Sen. Mike Braun won the Republican nomination for governor of Indiana, NBC News projects, making him the favorite to succeed term-limited Gov. Eric Holcomb as Rep. Jim Banks secured the GOP nomination to succeed Braun in the Senate.
And in the House, NBC News projects Rep. Victoria Spartz saw off a Republican primary challenger for her seat, leading a slate of interesting congressional fights on the GOP side.
Braun jumped into the governor’s race as the favorite, despite a crowded field that included former state Commerce Secretary Brad Chambers, Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch and businessman Eric Doden. After he won former President Donald Trump’s endorsement last fall, he had appeared to be the front-runner, but the large group of candidates and massive television spending injected uncertainty into the contest.
Both Chambers and Doden outspent Braun on the airwaves — candidates and outside groups spent more than $45 million on ads, according to the ad tracking firm AdImpact. In some of the most recent ads, Braun and his allies aired a healthy slate of spots highlighting his Trump endorsement, Chambers tried to frame himself as an outsider, Doden criticized Braun as a creature of Washington, and Crouch emphasized her push to help save funding for disabled children.
And the race got messy — Braun and Doden got into a spat over support for police and the Black Lives Matter protests, and candidates got into a back-and-forth over how they’d stand up to China.
Holcomb, the outgoing governor, posted messages on X (formally known as Twitter) warning candidates that “you won’t be able to rely on slogans or empty campaign promises to yield positive results.” (Holcomb didn’t back a successor.)
