Jim Banks Projected to Win Hoosier Senate Race

Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN) has defeated Hoosier Democrat nominee Valerie McCray for the open Indiana Senate seat, according to projections.

The Associated Press (AP), Decision Desk, and NBC News have declared Banks the winner of the the Indiana Senate race.

Banks will replace the outgoing Sen. Mike Braun (R-IN), who will likely take the governor’s mansion in Indianapolis.

Banks was first elected to the U.S. House in 2016, where he quickly rose up the ranks and became the chairman of the Republican Study Committee (RSC), the largest and most influential caucus within the House Republican Conference.

After the 2022 midterm elections, Banks narrowly lost the race for House Majority Whip to Rep. Tom Emmer (R-MN). Since then, Banks moved to run for higher office.

McCray is a clinical psychologist from Indianapolis, who pulled off a surprise victory when she was nominated the state’s Democrat Senate candidate. She is the first black woman nominee for a major party in Indiana for the U.S. Senate.

Related: Jim Banks on the Future of the America First Movement in the Senate at RNC 2024

Banks said in a written statement after the election was called in his favor:

I am grateful for the support of my family and the support I’ve had from Hoosiers across the state. I owe this victory to all who contributed to it.

Only in America can a kid like me, who grew up in a trailer park in Columbia City and was the first in my family to go to college, go on to become a United States Senator. As your next Senator, I will fight every day to protect that American dream for the next generation.

We need true conservative fighters in Washington who are not afraid to cut reckless spending and fight to secure our border and end the Democrats’ border crisis. I got in this race to champion working Hoosier families and put Indiana first, and that’s what I plan to do on day one in the United States Senate.

“I am honored to have the opportunity to fight for the things that matter most to Hoosiers,” he added.

Senate Leadership Fund President Steven Law said in a statement after Banks’s victory, “Senate Leadership Fund extends its warmest congratulations to Senator-elect Jim Banks. From his campaign announcement in early 2023 through Election Day, Jim Banks ran a smart campaign that gave Democrats no opening.”

Law added, “Politics is a team sport, and by covering his position so effectively, Banks allowed Senate Leadership Fund to focus on other must-win races around the country.”

Sean Moran is a policy reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on X @SeanMoran3.