Gubernatorial candidate Mike Braun highlights an endorsement from former President Donald Trump in his first campaign advertisement. Photo is a screenshot of video.

By Leslie Bonilla Muñiz
Indiana Capital Chronicle

INDIANA — In his first television advertisement Wednesday, U.S. Sen. Mike Braun attacked President Joe Biden’s administration while promising to boost manufacturing and limit unauthorized immigration.

He is the fourth GOP gubernatorial contender to go on air.

In the 30-second video, Braun emphasized his business career and his defeat of former Democrat U.S. Sen. Joe Donnelly. Since then, he said, he’s “fought the politicians that threaten our freedom” — over photographs of Biden and former top medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci.

Braun said he supported expanding domestic manufacturing and teaching children “how to think, not what to think.”

He also sought to halt the flow of the often-lethal drug fentanyl and to “send illegal immigrants home.” As he spoke, red-backed text highlighted a week-old endorsement from former President Donald Trump.

“Strong leadership will get it done,” Braun concluded.

An upbeat voice dubbed him a businessman, an outsider — despite his five years in Congress — and a conservative.

“I am excited to share my vision with Hoosiers, highlight my record as a strong conservative leader, and make it clear to Hoosiers where I stand on the issues they care about,” Braun said in a statement Wednesday. “And I want to thank the thousands of grassroots Hoosiers who have donated their hard-earned money to put me in the position to launch such a robust advertising campaign.”

Braun’s campaign said it’s putting $1.5 million into an “ad blitz that will reach voters across the entire state.”

Braun is among the race’s frontrunners, but he still faces formidable competitors: former Commerce Secretary Brad Chambers, Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch, Fort Wayne businessman Eric Doden and former Attorney General Curtis Hill. Jamie Reitenour is also running on the GOP side.

Braun’s also picked up endorsements from prominent conservative national groups like Americans for Prosperity and the Club for Growth, and endorsed a potential successor: U.S. Rep. Jim Banks of Indiana.