Indiana Senate Race: Mike Braun upsets Joe Donnelly in big GOP pickup
GOP challenger Mike Braun has defeated incumbent Democratic Sen. Joe Donnelly in the Indiana Senate race as 56% of the tally showed Braun ahead 54.9 to 41 percent for Donnelly.
The results indicate another example of how wrong the polls are/have been: A Fox News poll released at the beginning of this month showed 45 percent of respondents supporting Donnelly, who took office in 2012, and 38 percent for Braun, a former state representative.
Washington Post columnist Charles Lane wrote that the race “shows the clash within the two parties,” as Donnelly is a running as a moderate Democrat during a time when the party’s national tone is moving further to the left, while Braun — a pro-Trump, anti-establishment Republican — is the kind of candidate who defines the Trump era GOP.
More than $25 million was spent on behalf of the two major party candidates: Donnelly, $13.8 million; Braun, $15.6 million.
Republicans hold a slim advantage with 51 seats compared to the Democrats 49, including two independents. The Donnelly win is a big pickup for the GOP and one to be followed by other big news from weak Democrat races in states where Trump won big in 2016.
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