Republicans rally around Mike Braun at state convention

Evansville, Ind. — while it was business as usual for the majority of the Indiana Republican State Convention, quite a bit of time was spent on building support for the self-proclaimed outsider in this state’s U.S. Senate race.

Republican nominee Mike Braun looked to pick up momentum by energizing the party Saturday.

“The amount of enthusiasm, not only in the Hoosier state but across the country is significant and now we’ve got about 8 or 9 seats in play that are currently held by Democrats that could have a chance of coming back to the Republican column and this is ground zero,” said Braun.

His November showdown with Democratic incumbent U.S. Senator Joe Donnelly is a race to watch in the 2018 midterms.

And that’s partly why the Republican national chair Ronna Romney McDaniel was in the Hoosier state Saturday to back Braun.

“An outsider, a businessman like Mike Braun is somebody who appeals to Hoosiers for that reason,” said McDaniel.

Braun’s appearance at Saturday’s event was also met with criticism outside the center.

A few Democrats were on site to question Braun’s party loyalty and past voting record.

“Mike Braun has a long history of voting for Democrats and he’s been hiding this from Indiana voters and we just want people to know the facts on who this guy is,” said Jonathan Schwartz, Indiana Democratic Party volunteer.

Braun’s primary opponent Todd Rokita once echoed a similar sentiment, but he was in attendance Saturday to help push unity as the 2018 midterms draw near.