Election 2024: Here's who is running in Indiana for U.S. Senate

Update: This story was updated to reflect who survived challenges to ballot access before the Indiana Election Commission.

Now is the time when the race for Mike Braun's U.S. Senate seat gets serious.

Candidates who have officially filed at this point have met the onerous petition requirement: 500 signatures in each of Indiana's nine congressional districts.

This particular race has made headlines for multiple reasons. The Indiana Republican Party made an unusually early endorsement of U.S. Rep. Jim Banks. He almost had an opponent: Egg farmer John Rust was denied ballot access due to his prior voting history, but he's continuing his fight against that Indiana law in court.

Here is who will be on the ballot.

The primary is May 7.

Republicans

Jim Banks

• Hometown: Columbia City

• Occupation: U.S. Representative for Indiana's 3rd Congressional district in northeast Indiana

• Date filed: Feb. 1, 2024

• Cash on hand as of Dec. 31: $3 million

• The skinny: Banks has made a methodical climb through the ranks of political power ― from county party chair to state senator and now four terms as U.S. representative for Indiana's 3rd district ― and has emerged as a leading Republican in the House's ultraconservative wing. Some of his chief concerns include securing the southern border, cutting down the $31 trillion federal debt and supporting increased military spending. He is also a vocal frontliner on the culture wars, speaking out in favor of more restrictive abortion laws and against "wokeness" in schools. Banks has the backing of former President Donald Trump, the Indiana Republican Party and conservative fundraising powerhouse Club for Growth.

• Website: banksforsenate.com

Democrats

Marc Carmichael

• Hometown: Muncie

• Occupation: Retired

• Date filed: Feb. 8, 2024

• Cash on hand: $51,000

• The skinny: Carmichael emerged from a long political hibernation specifically, he said, to give Hoosiers an option in opposition to Banks, whose stance on social issues he considers "mean-spirited" and "out of touch." He served in the Indiana House from 1986 to 1991 and unseated the sitting House Republican Speaker, J. Roberts Dailey, to do so. For about 20 years, Carmichael lobbied for the alcohol industry as president of the Indiana Beverage Alliance until he retired in 2020. He has a slew of priorities, including codifying abortion rights, banning military-style assault weapons, curbing white nationalism and antisemitism and defending LGBTQ youth.

Valerie McCray

• Hometown: Indianapolis

• Occupation: Clinical psychologist

• Date filed: Jan. 11, 2024

• Cash on hand as of Dec. 31: $25

• The skinny: A longtime resident of the Mapleton-Fall Creek neighborhood of Indianapolis, McCray would be the first Black senator to represent Indiana if elected. Her top priority is addressing the nation's mental health crisis. According to her website, she appreciates the merits of capitalism but believes the American version is "narcissistic and sociopathic," made worse by the Citizens United Supreme Court decision that allowed corporations to donate to political campaigns without limits. She also wants to work on affordable housing, ethical artificial intelligence investment, removing interest on student loans and protecting women's rights in the wake of the Dobbs decision.

• Website: valeriemccray.org

Contact IndyStar state government and politics reporter Kayla Dwyer at kdwyer@indystar.com or follow her on Twitter@kayla_dwyer17.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: 2024 Election: Here's who made the ballot in Indiana for U.S. Senate