EXCLUSIVE: Rep. Jim Banks, R-Indiana, said he is “strongly considering” a 2024 run to replace GOP Sen. Mike Brown, who announced Monday that he will run for governor of the Hoosier state rather than seek re-election to the Senate.
In an exclusive interview with Fox News this week, Banks said that if she were to run for her state’s open Senate seat, she would “come in quickly” and demonstrate that she is “strong, reliable and conservative in the House.” .”
Banks, a former state senator and Afghanistan war veteran who represents a district in northeast Indiana, is stepping down as chairman of the Republican Study Committee, an influential group of conservative House lawmakers. But last month, Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota, who chaired the National Republican Congressional Committee for the past two rounds, defeated Banks in the race for the House majority, which ranks third in the incoming Republican majority. camera.
Brown announced his candidacy for governor on Monday, jumping into a crowded field of GOP contenders vying to replace Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb.
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Senator Mike Brown during a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee hearing on June 23, 2021, on Capitol Hill.
(Sarah Silbiger-Pool/Getty Images)
“This is a big deal for Indiana. We rarely have a Senate seat open in our state,” Banks said. “Sen. Brown has been a strong conservative in the Senate for Indiana… Indiana deserves a strong conservative in his place.”
Banks shared that he’s “going to spend the holidays praying with my wife” after seeing the Senate candidate. And he added, “The Senate provides a bigger platform, a bigger opportunity for Hoosiers to do more, and so I don’t take that lightly as we think down this path.”
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The congressman said an announcement could be made early in the new year if he starts campaigning.
Rep. Jim Banks speaks with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy during a news conference on Capitol Hill, June 9, 2022.
(Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)
“If we’re going to get in, we’re going to get in quickly. Senator Brown announced this week that he’s running for governor, so now it’s a reality,” Banks said. “I think it’s important that when we decide to do this quickly, we can get into the race and meet Hoosiers all over the state and prove that I’m strong, I’m reliable. A conservative in the House and can continue that leadership for the entire state.”
Indiana was once a general election battleground state, but has turned red over the past decade, and the open Senate seat could attract many Republicans.
Banks said he has “no doubt” the GOP primary field will be crowded. “I imagine a lot of people are thinking about it, too. So I don’t take it lightly,” he said.
Rep. Victoria Spartz, a Republican, is among those considering the proposal. “It is known that one of Indiana’s U.S. Senate seats is open in 2024, and I have been asked to consider it,” he said in a statement last week.
Noting her conservative credentials, Banks said, “I’m proud of my consistent, conservative voting record in the House of Representatives. I’ve been the chairman of the largest conservative caucus. I’ve been a leading voice on President Trump’s America First agenda. Our country so good for, we’re back.”
Asked if he was seeking the former president’s endorsement, Banks said, “President Trump remains very popular in Indiana. There is no bigger fan of what he has done, not only for the country, but for the Republican Party in our state.” .
He added, “If I get into the United States Senate, I will fight for the Trump agenda.”