INDIANA – In 2018, Mike Braun was a political outsider who used his considerable wealth as the founder and CEO of Meyer Distributing to fund an underdog campaign to defeat incumbent Democratic U.S. Sen. Joe Donnelly.
After just one term in Congress, Republican Braun decided to step back from federal government and return to his home state to run for governor.
“I’m a problem solver by nature. When you run a small business for 17 years and build it into a regional and international company, that’s what life’s about (in order) to survive,” Braun said.
Compared to other states, the highest office in Indiana is relatively weak in favor of the General Assembly. But Braun said it wouldn’t be the case for him.
“Not when someone’s a spark plug like I am and is entrepreneurial in nature,” Braun said. “You can certainly be more aggressive on the agenda.”
But on issues, Braun has been quieter than his GOP competitors: former Secretary of Commerce Brad Chambers, Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch, Fort Wayne businessman Eric Doden, former Attorney General Curtis Hill, and the devout Jamie Reitenour.
He referred to his wide-ranging “Freedom and Opportunity” agenda as a template for policy proposals but said more specific details would emerge in the early months of 2024.
Instead, Braun highlighted several efforts he’d worked on at the federal level over the years, including Promising Pathways, a bill to establish an expedited drug review process for treatments used for rare diseases with a poor prognosis.
“We’ve got more of them cooking up and we’ll get more stuff done,” Braun said about whether he felt he had unfinished business in D.C.
He noted that the bill has Democratic support, signaling his ability to work across the aisle on practical matters.
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