INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Republican U.S. Sen. Mike Braun’s bid to become governor of Indiana seemed simple enough until he got the vice president he didn’t want: a pastor and self-described Christian nationalist who fusses with niceties fought their way into next month’s election.
Micah Beckwith, a podcaster from Noblesville, an Indianapolis suburb where he leads Life Church, secured enough delegate support to upend the lieutenant governor nomination process at this year’s GOP convention and become Braun’s running mate . His conservatism has complicated the race by forcing Braun to debate Beckwith’s views.
Tensions between the vice presidents and a series of negative ads have given an unexpected boost to Democratic candidates Jennifer McCormick and Terry Goodin, overwhelming underdogs in a state that hasn’t elected a Democrat to statewide office since 2012. The Momentum on the Republican Candidate Additionally, mighty Democratic campaigns have led forecasters to be confident in their certainty that both seats will remain Republican.
“The race is more competitive compared to expectations,” said Greg Shufeldt, a political science professor at the University of Indianapolis.
Who is Micah Beckwith?
Typically, gubernatorial candidates choose who they want to run for office and rely on party delegates to announce their choice at party conventions. But Beckwith began courting delegates more than a year in advance and pulled off a huge upset at the GOP convention in June. Delegates applauded his nomination and rejected Julie McGuire, a state freshman chosen by Braun, even after Braun helped her gain Donald Trump’s endorsement.
Beckwith, who did not respond to multiple requests for comment, has used his social media platform to express views that have caused anger. In addition to declaring that God sent the people who rioted at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, he was also criticized last month for saying his Democratic opponents had a “Jezebel spirit.”
Braun has spent the last few weeks battling the fallout.
At a debate earlier this month between McCormick and Braun, she urged Braun to apologize for his vice president’s “Jezebel spirit” comment.
“I don’t like that,” Braun replied. “You can’t tell from looking at me, and he’s been pretty good at avoiding it.”
Earlier this month, Beckwith was seen on video at a local Republican Party meeting saying he would fire any employee in his office or the agencies he oversees who lists his pronouns in emails. The story was first reported by The Advocate, an LGBTQ+ publication, and the video was uploaded by The Bloomingtonian.
“If you think that men can be women and women can be men and that pronouns are required when we talk to each other, you don’t even understand the basics of reality,” Beckwith said.
Braun condemned the statement, saying he would hire and fire employees “based solely on their merit and commitment to efficient and effective state government to make life better and more affordable for Hoosiers, period.”
Under Indiana law, the lieutenant governor is first in line to the throne. Lieutenant governors oversee four state agencies but have no real lawmaking power. However, these limitations haven’t stopped Beckwith from exploring topics he probably wouldn’t encounter at work.
Mike Murphy, a former Republican state representative and political commentator, said Beckwith represents the socially conservative side of the party.
“I would say that Micah Beckwith is a product and a symbol of a lot of unrest in the Indiana Republican Party,” Murphy said.
Braun, who ran an auto parts distribution company and ran campaigns aligned with Trump, may be able to unite business-minded Republicans and social conservatives, Murphy said.
In an interview, Braun said that all campaigns have their ups and downs. He believes voter turnout will be a positive for Trump moving forward.
“When I ran for Senate six years ago, we are in better shape today than we were then,” he said.
Who are Braun and Beckwith competing against?
Braun, a one-term senator, has represented Indiana in Congress since 2018. His campaign focused on high health care costs and property taxes and criticized the federal government over policies at the southern border.
Braun handily won a five-person gubernatorial primary in May with nearly 40% of the vote.
But that means 60% of the state’s primary voters didn’t support him. McCormick and Libertarian Donald Rainwater want to woo some of those Republican voters.
McCormick has cited Beckwith’s views in calling the GOP ticket extremist. She has built her appeal to moderate voters around restoring abortion rights in a state that passed a near-total ban in 2022.
The candidates themselves reflect some recent changes in Indiana politics. Braun voted as a Democrat until 2012; McCormick switched parties in 2021 after breaking with Republicans on education policy as state school superintendent. A fresh ad released Monday shows a Republican man vowing to support her.
“We have a lot of momentum, and that momentum actually benefits the Republicans, the Democrats and the independents,” McCormick said in an interview.
Indiana does not allow citizen-led ballot initiatives like other states where abortion is on the ballot. Even if McCormick defies the odds, Republicans hold a supermajority in both chambers of the Legislature and overturning the state ban would be tough, if not impossible.
But the response from the Braun campaign shows he doesn’t expect to win. Earlier this month, Braun aired an ad attacking McCormick as a liberal and linking her to Hillary Clinton and President Joe Biden. The ad drew attention both for its negativity in a race that was supposed to be simple for Braun and for its utilize of a manipulated image.
The ad claims McCormick supports banning gas stoves, an idea that has become a flashpoint for the culture war in 2023. It featured an image that had been manipulated to show people standing behind McCormick and holding signs that read “no gas stoves.” It was a digitally altered version of a photo taken by a South Bend Tribune reporter in May 2023.
Indiana lawmakers this year passed a law banning the utilize of artificial intelligence in election materials without disclaimers. Braun’s campaign said the ad was mistakenly shared with television networks.
According to the Indiana Capitol Chronicle, Rainwater, the Libertarian candidate running again, alarmed the state Republican Party so much that it sent out a mailer criticizing him. He won 11.4% of the vote when he ran for governor in 2020 after pandemic lockdowns angered Indiana voters. A similar turnout could deprive Braun of votes.
“I think people are very dissatisfied with the status quo at both the federal and state levels and also at the local level,” Rainwater said in an interview.
According to data from AdImpact, which tracks campaign spending, Braun has trumped McCormick in advertising overall, spending more than $13 million on advertising this year, including the GOP primary period. He has spent more than three times what McCormick has on advertising.
Campaign finance reports show Braun raised nearly $4.87 million from July to September. McCormick has lagged behind but has seen gains since the beginning of the year, raising over $2 million during the same period.
Campaign finance reports show McCormick received $1.65 million from the Democratic Governor’s Association in October. This is the first significant investment in an Indiana governor’s candidacy since 2016, when Mike Pence resigned to run for vice president.
The Republican Governors Association quickly responded, donating $1.5 million to Braun this month, a clear sign that the race has caught their attention.
Shufeldt, the IU-Indianapolis professor, said the DGA money could support Democrats rebuild in Indiana even if McCormick lags, and “could pay dividends down the road.”
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Volmert reported from Lansing, Michigan.
