Republican Senate candidate Mike Braun won over incumbent Sen. Joe Donnelly, who gave a concession speech at 9:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Braun touted both his hometown roots and successful business career throughout his campaign. He also served as a state representative from 2014 to 2017. Poll numbers have consistently shown a close race between Braun and Donnelly.
Braun has aligned himself closely with President Donald Trump. Statements on his website show support for many of Trump’s ideas, such as building a border wall and “draining the swamp” of Washington, D.C., “career politicians.”
Much of Braun’s campaign has focused on portraying him as a political outsider, someone more in touch with Hoosiers than longtime Washington, D.C., politicians.
Braun, a native of Jasper, Indiana, attended Wabash College and Harvard Business School before moving back to his hometown, where he still lives with his family.
He’s also portrayed his businesses, Meyer Distributing, Meyer Logistics and Promaxx Automotive, as American-made and creating American jobs. However, the Associated Press reported earlier this year that some of the products sold by Promaxx Automotive are made in China.
He’s repeatedly criticized Donnelly for owning stock in a family business with a Mexico-based factory.
Donnelly, a Democrat, also aligned himself with Trump on some issues during his campaign. In one advertisement from August, Donnelly said he would support a border wall with Mexico.
In addition to building a border wall, Braun wants to stop sending federal money to “sanctuary cities” and require U.S. businesses to confirm the immigration status of all prospective employees.
The National Rifle Association endorsed Braun, who describes himself as a hunter and outdoorsman and “100-percent pro-2nd Amendment,” according to his campaign website.
On health care, Braun emphasized that he covered pre-existing conditions and maintained flat premiums for his employees without government involvement. His website calls the Affordable Care Act “an unmitigated disaster for Hoosier families and businesses."
He would also support legislation defining life as beginning at conception, effectively limiting or abolishing abortion rights, according to his website.
