U.S. Senator Mike Braun launches campaign for governor

Republican U.S. Senator Mike Braun is running for governor in 2024 — officially.

Monday’s announcement, made in front of campaign supporters and politicos at upscale downtown Indianapolis steakhouse Prime 47, was expected after he filed paperwork last week to run for Indiana's governor in 2024.

After serving in the state legislature beginning in 2014, Braun, 68, was first elected to the Senate after defeating incumbent Democrat Joe Donnelly in 2018. He also won a divisive primary against two sitting congressmen at the time: Todd Rokita and Luke Messer. Braun said Monday that he would finish out the two years on his Senate term "robustly" but didn't intend to become a career, Washington, D.C.-based politician.

He wants to come home, he said, to tackle issues such as infant and maternal mortality, workforce, education, public safety and affordable housing.

"These are all big issues and I'm going to tackle them," he said to the crowd of roughly 70 supporters. "I do think that if we're going to really fix them, we're going to have to be in a place where we can do it, where the rubber meets the road and that's back home in our state."

A conservative, Braun has voted against several federal relief measures, including the American Rescue Plan. Last month, he also voted against the Respect for Marriage Act.

Relatively unknown before his Senate campaign, the Jasper native and businessman told IndyStar in 2018 that more people who run businesses should be in Washington. He often likened himself to Trump in that way.

Trump did not come up during Monday's announcement but Braun did lean hard on his business background, saying he'd bring an entrepreneurial spirit to the office of governor.

"We're going to maybe push the envelope a little bit," he said.

Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch also announced Monday she is running for governor. In 2021, Fort Wayne businessman Eric Doden also announced a run as a Republican.

This story will be updated.

Call IndyStar reporter Arika Herron at 317-201-5620 or email her at Arika.Herron@indystar.com. Follow her on Twitter: @ArikaHerron.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana Sen. Mike Braun launches campaign for governor