Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN) has built a public profile as chairman of the Republican Study Committee, Congress’s largest bloc of conservative lawmakers. Now, Banks is considering trying for another role across the Capitol — Indiana’s open Senate seat.
Sen. Mike Braun (R-IN) is giving up the Senate seat in 2024 after a single six-year term to run for governor. And Banks is weighing whether to run for Senate in a Republican race that would be no sure thing in the heavily red state, with several other GOP candidates already in the Senate contest or expected to jump in. Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-IN) is considering running for Senate. So is former Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, who headed the Office of Management and Budget during the George W. Bush administration. Other Republicans could also jump in.
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Still, Banks may have a leg up in the GOP Senate scrum after heading the Republican Study Committee during the last Congress, having recently turned over the role to Rep. Kevin Hern (R-OK). Chairing the Republican Study Committee elevated Banks’s profile, with the group playing a central role in crafting the GOP’s messaging strategy. Lunchtime meetings when the House was in session became a key stop for potential 2020 presidential contenders looking to garner favor with conservatives. Meanwhile, Banks emerged as a regular television presence defending former President Donald Trump, which can only help in a GOP primary in Indiana.
The role of Republican Study Committee chair has served as a springboard for a number of national political figures, including former Vice President Mike Pence, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA), and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH). Banks told the Washington Examiner that leading the largest conservative caucus in Congress has provided him with a unique skill set to become a senator.
“Mike Braun has been a consistent and reliable conservative in the Senate for Indiana,” Banks said. “Indiana deserves a conservative senator — it’s a conservative state. So I’m definitely interested in and strongly considering a run for the Senate in Indiana, and the Republican Study Committee has uniquely prepared me to be that type of conservative leader in my state.”
Banks, 43, was previously a member of the state Senate in Indianapolis. He currently serves in the Navy Reserve as a supply corps officer. From 2014 to 2015, he took a leave of absence from the Indiana Senate to serve in Afghanistan.
Banks was first elected to the House in 2016, and the Fort Wayne-based 3rd Congressional District, which he represents, takes in the northeastern part of Indiana.
Banks is a popular figure among the GOP base on a national scale. He’s maintained close relationships with Trump, Pence, and other high-profile politicians he brought in to meet with the Republican Study Committee during his tenure.
“I find that Republicans are hungry for substantive conversations and that the best place you’re going to find that is the Republican Study Committee because we’re talking about big ideas. We’re talking about where the party goes from here,” he said.
Banks took the reins of the group in early 2021, shortly after Republicans lost total control of Congress and President Joe Biden kicked Trump out of the White House. During his two-year term, Banks set out to find ways to provide a forum for GOP members to discuss ideas and hear from notable speakers in the hope of helping the party unify around common goals.
“[The Republican Study Committee] has always stood for strong national defense, fiscal conservatism, fiscal responsibility, and being the pro-family, pro-life party,” Banks said, “with the populist policy policies and ‘America First’ policies of the Trump era: strong borders and immigration policies, putting American workers first, an America First foreign policy, being tough on China, and reining in Big Tech.”
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While fractures remain in the party, with splits over ideology evident during the recent vote for House speaker in which it took Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) 15 ballots to win, Banks said he believes the GOP remains a big tent and is headed in the right direction. Banks applauds the populist direction it has taken in recent years and how it has brought working-class voters into the fold, which he feels will play a key role in the GOP’s odds of succeeding in future elections.
“The base of the Republican Party is broader than what it was before — it’s a fact that Donald Trump brought more working-class voters to the Republican Party,” he continued. “We’re not traditional Republican voters, and we need those voters to win majorities and win back the White House.”
