INDIANAPOLIS — Republican U.S. Senator Mike Braun has filed paperwork to run for Indiana governor in 2024.
The documents were filed with the secretary of state's office Wednesday morning.
Braun talked openly for months about the possibility of trying to replace Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb, who can’t seek reelection because of term limits, rather than running again for the U.S. Senate seat he won in 2018. The two elections will take place at the same time.
The wealthy 68-year-old founder of a national auto parts distribution business, Braun campaigned for Senate as a strong supporter of then-President Donald Trump and has often aligned himself closely with U.S. Senate Republicans' most conservative members while bemoaning the Senate's deliberative pace.
Braun fueled his successful 2018 Senate campaign with more than $11 million in personal loans, vaulting from a little-known businessman to wining the Republican primary over then-Reps. Luke Messer and Todd Rokita, then unseating Democratic Sen. Joe Donnelly.
A graduate of Jasper High School in Dubois County, Braun's career in state politics began as representative from Indiana District 63 from 2014 to 2017.
Braun publicly denounced Holcomb’s decision in March to veto a Republican-backed bill banning transgender girls from competing in Indiana girls sports teams.
Discussions of possible 2024 statewide Democratic candidates have centered on Donnelly, who is now President Joe Biden’s ambassador to the Vatican, and former state schools superintendent Jennifer McCormick, who won election as a Republican in 2016 but has since switched parties after disputes with Republican Statehouse leaders over education policies.