Mike Braun was declared the winner in the Republican primary election by the Associated Press as of 8:47 p.m. Tuesday night, and since then numerous Republicans have come out to support him and his upcoming challenge to current Democrat Sen. Joe Donnelly.
Braun ended the night with 41.2 percent of the vote, according to the Indiana Election Division. Rep. Todd Rokita, R-4th District, was second with 30 percent and Luke Messer, R-6th District, was third with 28.8 percent.
More than 500,000 people voted in the primary election for the Republican nomination for senator.
Braun will now prepare to tackle Donnelly for his U.S. Senate seat, and as part of that effort, Republicans across the state, including Mike Pence, congratulated Braun.
Kyle Hupfer, the chairman for the Indiana Republican Party, threw his support behind Braun via an emailed press release at 8:59 p.m. Tuesday, mere minutes after the race was called for Braun.
"Mike Braun will also take this race directly to Democrat Joe Donnelly," Hupfer said in the press release. "He'll remind Hoosiers that Donnelly isn't the moderate he claims to be. Donnelly is a liberal Democrat, who has a history of voting in lock-step with his Democrat bosses, Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer."
Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb also quickly backed Braun, calling him the right person to put more "Indiana in Washington."
"Mike Braun will take a message of purpose with him to Washington as a U.S. Senator and be a strong partner for me and for all Hoosiers,” Holcomb said in the release.
The Indiana general election is set to happen Nov. 6, during which Braun and Donnelly will compete for the senator seat.
