What Sen. Mike Braun thinks about Indiana's supermajority and his far-right running mate
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Sen. Mike Braun has his hands full, trying to pull together the fractured pieces of Indiana's Republican party.
Why it matters: The front-runner to be Indiana's next governor is contending with a running mate who appeals to the party's far-right fringes, which threatens Braun's tenuous hold on moderates.
- That's happening while excitement around Vice President Kamala Harris' presidential campaign is expected to increase Democratic voter turnout.
State of play: Less than two months before the general election, Braun is fighting several battles he probably didn't expect when he launched his campaign in late 2022.
- At the state party convention in June, delegates rejected his chosen running mate, state Rep. Julie McGuire, in favor of conservative pastor Micah Beckwith.
- His opponent, Jennifer McCormick, is a former Republican turned Democrat with a difficult road to victory in reliably red Indiana, but she and running mate Terry Goodin are poised to capitalize on a purpling electorate.
Zoom in: Beckwith represents some of the party's most extreme views on many topics, including mandatory childhood vaccines, religion and immigration.
- Though he has a toehold with the party's most conservative members, like the state convention delegates who chose him, he's going to be less palatable in suburban communities like his own Hamilton County, where he lost the 2020 primary for Indiana's 5th Congressional District.
- "Give him credit," Braun said. "He appealed to a part of our party that feels like it's been abandoned."
What he's saying: "Most people are not voting for Terry Goodin or Micah Beckwith," Braun said. "You can try to tie it at the hip, and that's OK, but I'll plow through that."
Still, it has complicated Braun's desire to appeal to moderates by talking about what he calls "kitchen table issues" like gas prices and health care costs.
- On the latter, he took the Republican Statehouse supermajority to task on Indiana's poor health outcomes, particularly its infant and maternal mortality rates.
- "I think we need to do more," Braun said. "You haven't seen that out of our supermajority, because they're afraid to tackle that biggest part of our economy."
The other side: Health care has been a major focus for Republicans during the last several legislative sessions and recent reports show some progress has been made on infant and maternal mortality rates, though they remain higher than the national average.
The bottom line: Braun is trying to convince voters that Indiana needs a sixth straight term of Republican leadership while trying to set himself apart from not only Beckwith, but also Gov. Eric Holcomb and former Gov. Mike Pence, both of whom are viewed unfavorably by segments of the party.