Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN) notched an endorsement Tuesday from Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) in the race for Indiana’s open Senate seat in 2024, Breitbart News has learned.
The endorsement from Blackburn brings Banks’s total endorsements from U.S. senators — and potential future colleagues — up to half a dozen early on in the race, with the state’s primary still more than a year away.
“Jim Banks is an unabashed freedom fighter in Congress, and we desperately need his tenacity in the Senate,” Blackburn said.
Banks is currently the sole candidate in the race to replace outgoing Sen. Mike Braun (R-IN) after former Gov. Mitch Daniels (R), who has been derided by some as a “RINO,” decided in January against running. Daniels’ allies are, however, still shopping around for a potential challenger to Banks, according to Politico.
Banks is backed by a wide swath of Republicans, including former President Donald Trump, the well-funded Club for Growth PAC, Senate GOP Conference chair Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY), and the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
The additional endorsement from Blackburn comes as little surprise after the Tennessee Republican was named among ten senators on an invite for a fundraising dinner for Banks to be held in March. The event with Blackburn and other big names, such as Barrasso and Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL), JD Vance (R-OH), and Tom Cotton (R-AR), shows Banks is aiming to gather resources early on in his campaign.
Blackburn has long taken a tough-on-China stance during her time in the House and Senate, and praised Banks, who now serves on the newly created China select committee, for doing the same. She also commended Banks, who founded the “Anti-Woke Caucus” this year, for his opposition to the “woke Left,” as well as for his positions on big tech censorship.
Sen. Marsha Blackburn speaks during a committee meeting at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC, on September 21, 2021. (TING SHEN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
“He is not afraid to push back against the woke Left, call the Chinese Communist Party out as the adversary it is, and hold Big Tech accountable for their egregious attacks on our free speech,” Blackburn said. “I would be proud to work alongside him to defend the principles that make conservative states like Indiana and Tennessee so special.”
Banks, the father of three girls, responded in a statement that he was honored to have Blackburn’s support and praised her for being a female leader in Republican politics.
“I’m grateful for the barriers that she and other conservative female leaders have broken so that my daughters can grow up in a nation where they are able to pursue the opportunities they deserve, and have strong role models like Sen. Blackburn to look up to,” Banks said. “Marsha is a tried and true conservative champion in Washington, and I look forward to fighting the good fight alongside her in the United States Senate.”
Write to Ashley Oliver at aoliver@breitbart.com. Follow her on Twitter at @asholiver.
