Indiana’s Republicans came out on top on Election Night 2024 as Mike Braun defeated Democrat opponent Jennifer McCormick to win the race for Indiana Governor.
Braun, who has chosen to serve only one term in the U.S. Senate, will be handing over his seat to Jim Banks, a Republican Congressman who serves in Indiana’s 3rd Congressional District in northwestern Indiana. Banks comfortably defeated his Democrat opponent Valerie McCray.
Both Braun and Banks were projected early in the evening on Election Night by the Associated Press as having won their respective races.
Braun’s victory also means a victory for Micah Beckwith, who was the Republican candidate for Lieutenant Governor. Braun had chosen first term State Rep. Julie McGuire as his running mate in May, but Beckwith secured more than 50 percent of the support from GOP delegates during the Indiana Republican Convention in July to become Braun’s running mate instead. By state statute, Beckwith will also serve as Secretary of the Indiana State Department of Agriculture (ISDA) and will oversee the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs (OCRA).
Before Braun is sworn in as Indiana’s next governor in early January, he will finish out his term in the U.S. Senate, where he currently sits on the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry. Congress has not passed a new Farm Bill, and lawmakers will decide whether to attempt to pass the legislation during the upcoming “lame duck” session before the end of this year.