Colwell: Gubernatorial candidate Mike Braun is the Trumpiest of all

In case there was doubt, and there wasn’t much, Sen. Mike Braun is running as the Trumpiest of the five candidates seeking the Republican nomination for governor of Indiana.

Braun has officially endorsed a return of Trump to the White House, linking himself solidly with the former president.

Said Braun: “We installed constitutional conservatives on the Supreme Court who have protected the unborn and our Second Amendment rights, and we have disrupted the cozy, self-serving Washington elites who are bankrupting our country.”

Although Braun is running for governor rather than for reelection to the Senate, he said that he and Trump “together . . . took on the Washington swamp with a historic victory in the 2018 Indiana Senate race.”

He didn’t seem to like the Senate. And the Senate didn’t seem to like him. So, Braun, a successful businessman before turning to politics, decided he would be better suited for an administrative position, governor.

The unabashed endorsement of Trump makes political sense for Braun in a Republican primary in a state where Trump won big twice in presidential elections with solid GOP support.

There are four other candidates for the Republican nomination, three matching Braun with multi-million-dollar campaign funding.

If Braun wins a big margin of support from Trump’s MAGA base in Indiana, and the others split up what’s left in the Republican primary, it would seem to be a recipe for nomination victory.

The other contenders with big funding and appeal that could go beyond the MAGA base are Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch, Fort Wayne businessman Eric Doden and former Indiana Commerce Secretary Brad Chambers, who just recently entered the race with surprising initial momentum.

All three, expressing traditional Hoosier conservative values, have refrained from the Trump style of rhetoric. They certainly want the votes of Trump supporters, past and present. But they also appeal to Republicans more interested in government in Indiana than divisive issues in Washington.

The only chance for defeating Braun in the primary would seem to be for one of those three to become clearly the chief challenger to Braun, winning over rather than just splitting ranks of Republicans who are not all-out Trumpsters.

The other candidate, the one without big funding, is former Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill. Since he could appeal to evangelicals who have been part of the Trump base, Hill could split away some support from Braun in seeking his own winning formula.

Trump was instrumental in Braun’s 2018 defeat of Sen. Joe Donnelly, the Democratic incumbent, with repeated Indiana appearances for Braun, who came from behind to win.

While Braun was a solid supporter of Trump proposals in the Senate, he did not this time get an immediate Trump endorsement for governor. A reason could be that Braun changed his stance on rejecting some Electoral College totals and joined after the Jan. 6 insurrection in the vote to accept the presidential election results. Trump holds a grudge. So, another reason for Braun’s unabashed endorsement of Trump could be to prevent Trump from looking at the possibility of supporting one of the other candidates for governor.

The role of Gov. Eric Holcomb could be important.

Initially, there was speculation that Holcomb would endorse Crouch, his lieutenant governor. He has made no endorsement. Now, there is speculation that Holcomb might favor Chambers. Kyle Hupfer, long-time successful Republican state chair and Holcomb confidant, resigned from state party leadership and quickly became Chambers’ campaign chairman, bringing along other party organization figures.

The winner of the Republican nomination is likely to go on to be elected governor. Jennifer McCormick, a former Republican state school superintendent who broke with the GOP on education policy, is now unopposed for the Democratic nomination for governor. She faces a difficult general election race. No Democrat has won a race for governor since 2000. No Democrat has won any statewide race since 2012.

Jack Colwell is a columnist for The Tribune. Write to him in care of The Tribune or by email at jcolwell@comcast.net.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Indiana Sen. Mike Braun the Trumpiest candidate for governor