US Senate nominees look forward to November showdown

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Indiana U.S. Senator Joe Donnelly now knows who he will be facing this fall.

Former state rep. Mike Braun won the heated and expensive three-way Republican primary Tuesday.

During his victory speech, he extended an olive brand to his former GOP rivals.

“Since we share the same values and philosophy, they are whole heartedly behind my effort to retire Joe Donnelly,” said Braun.

And while he’s is concentrating his energy on calling out his newest opponent, Donnelly says he’s not focused on Braun as much.

He says he’d rather get his message out to voters before they hit the polls again in November.

“I’ve never been afraid of a fight,” Donnelly said during a press conference in Indianapolis Wednesday morning.

Donnelly says there’s a lot of noise in this election, but he’s only focusing on his campaign.

“The best campaign is just to do my job well,” he said. “I’ll work nonstop. I’ll go to all 92 counties and so that’s the focus for me.”

While he’s aware Braun could receive backing from top Republicans in the White House as soon as this Thursday, he’s says he’s not worried about it.

But should he be worried?

Longtime political analyst Abdul-Hakim Shabazz says we’ll have to wait until November to know for sure.

“[Donald Trump’s] effect is inconsistent let’s put it that way,” he said. “He had some primaries where he told people ‘vote for this guy’ and that guy lost and ‘vote for these guys’ and these guys won. So the president has a mixed record on endorsements.”

President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence gave Braun a call Tuesday after the results were in.

Braun says he hopes he can join the president on stage at his rally in Elkhart on Thursday.