GOP’s Mike Braun Ousts Indiana Democrat Joe Donnelly From Senate Seat in Upset
Mike Braun ran as a Trump loyalist and the president campaigned for him.
Photo Illustration by Sarah Rogers/The Daily Beast
Republican businessman Mike Braun defeated Sen. Joe Donnelly (D-IN) on Tuesday in a major pickup for President Donald Trump and Senate Republicans.
Trump won Indiana by 20 points in the 2016 presidential election, and Braun, a former member of the Indiana House of Representatives, ran as a Trump loyalist. The president visited Indiana twice during the final week of the 2018 campaign, and Vice President Mike Pence, a former governor of Indiana, also stumped for Braun. Donnelly was one of 10 Senate Democrats running for re-election this year in a state that Trump won.
Braun, a former Democrat, was able to successfully tie Donnelly to national Democrats like Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). Donnelly had tried to brand himself as an independent thinker, often distancing himself from his own party and touting the fact that he has voted with Trump more than 60 percent of the time. But that wasn’t enough to win statewide in a red state.
Donnelly has voted against some of the key legislative measures that Braun and Trump were highlighting on the campaign trail, most notably the Republican tax-cuts bill last year. Donnelly was one of just three Democrats who voted to confirm Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court last year, but he opposed Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination, joining all Senate Democrats but one.
Braun’s victory indicates that the “Kavanaugh bump”—the sudden unification among Republicans and conservatives last month after Kavanaugh was accused of sexual misconduct and ultimately confirmed to the Supreme Court—was at least somewhat real. Strategists were unsure whether it would last, but Braun and his campaign attacked Donnelly during the final days of the campaign for voting “no” on the nomination.
Get the best of The Beast delivered right to your inbox
By clicking “SUBSCRIBE” you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
See more of our coverage in your search results.
Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here.
Register below to read this article for free or subscribe
to unlock unlimited access to The Daily Beast.
Monthly
$1
First month then $5.99/month
Annual
$35
First year then $59.99/year
Premium
$79
First year then $119.99/year
*Substack access provided by the next business day, using your subscription email. Choosing the Premium plan constitutes your permission to share your subscription email with Substack and your agreement to Substack’s Privacy Policy.
Already have an account? Sign In
Looks like you already have a subscription!
You're all set!
Thanks for subscribing.