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Republican Mike Braun has won the Indiana governor’s election, with the Associated Press calling the race after the polls closed at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
Braun faced Democrat Jennifer McCormick, the former state superintendent of public instruction, as well as Libertarian software engineer Donald Rainwater.
With 93% of Indiana precincts reporting, unofficial results Wednesday afternoon showed Braun with 54.2% of the vote to McCormick’s 41.2% and Rainwater’s 4.6%.
Braun, a businessman and U.S. senator since 2019, previously served in the Indiana House of Representatives from 2014 to 2017.
With Braun leading the state, the Republican supermajority in the General Assembly likely has a clear path to expanding Indiana’s voucher program to all families by removing the final qualification — the income limit. The program is already nearly universal.
On Wednesday morning, Braun announced his transition team would include Betsy Wiley, president and CEO of the Institute for Quality Education, a school choice advocacy organization, as well as prominent conservative attorney Jim Bopp known for his anti-abortion model legislation.
The team is led by transition chair Victor Smith, who served as Indiana secretary of commerce under former Gov. Mike Pence, as well as transition director Joshua Kelley, Braun’s chief of staff in the U.S. Senate.
“Now is the time when the real work begins, where we can show Hoosiers the type of stewards we will be with all the trust placed in us. I am honored to have assembled such an exceptional team of individuals who bring a wealth of experience, expertise, and a shared commitment to serving the people of Indiana,” Braun said in a statement.
Teacher pay, recruitment in Braun’s education plan
Braun’s education platform also includes raising pay for teachers, but does not provide a target average dollar figure. He also champions cutting “red tape for out-of-state teachers” to become licensed in Indiana, as well as using targeted recruitment efforts to improve staffing shortages at Indiana schools.
The other points of his platform are largely in line with laws that lawmakers have passed in recent years, including limiting cell phone use in class and notifying parents if a student requests a name or pronoun change.
In culture war issues, lawmakers may have another ally in Lieutenant Governor-elect Micah Beckwith.
A pastor and small business owner from Hamilton County, Beckwith was instrumental in passing a controversial policy that moved books from the teen section to the adult section at the Hamilton East Public Library in 2022.
Beckwith was not Braun’s pick for lieutenant governor, but beat out Julie McGuire at the Republican convention, where delegates chose him over McGuire.
McCormick conceded the race around 10 p.m. Tuesday night, writing in a statement that though she was “disappointed” in the outcome, she was also “confident that Hoosier hospitality and ingenuity will ensure that Indiana’s best days remain ahead of us.”
In a statement, the Indiana School Boards Association congratulated Braun on his victory, noting that he is the first former school board member to be elected Indiana governor since Samuel Ralston in 1912. Braun was elected to the Greater Jasper school board in 2004.
“We are committed to working with the new administration and the Indiana General Assembly to achieve our common goals on improving education and student success,” the statement from ISBA said.
Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.
