On Tuesday, National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) chairman Steve Daines (R-Mont.) said he's "looking forward to working with one of our top recruits this cycle, Jim Banks, to keep Indiana red in 2024."
Daines released the statement, which praised former Gov. Mitch Daniels (R), shortly after Daniels announced he won't run for the seat.
The move "marks an official departure from the committee's policy in the 2022 cycle and makes clear it will play in primary contests in an attempt to win back the upper chamber," our Al Weaver wrote.
Asked in a December interview with Fox News if the NRSC would get more involved in primaries this cycle, Daines said, "If I have heard one thing since the last election, … Republicans are sick of losing, and we're gonna do whatever it takes to win. We want to make sure we have candidates that can win general elections."
The Cook Political Report rates the open race in Indiana solid Republican.
Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-Ind.) is also considering a bid. Banks has nabbed endorsements from former President Trump and the Club for Growth PAC as well, marking an early coalescing of influential forces.
How it was: Then-NRSC chair Rick Scott (R-Fla.) said last year that the party had quality candidates in the general election. Republicans ultimately lost one Senate seat, giving Democrats a more solid 51-49 majority.
At a Christian Science Monitor breakfast last June, Scott defended not getting involved in open primaries. He said, "I don't think people want Washington to pick who the candidates are. I think the voters in the states want to pick who's going to represent them." He also defended Republican candidate Herschel Walker, who'd won Georgia's May primary and later lost the runoff against Sen. Raphael Warnock (D).
As Al wrote, in purple New Hampshire and Arizona, "Don Bolduc and Blake Masters, political newcomers who tied themselves to Trump, advanced to the general election and were handily defeated."
Over in the House: National Republican Congressional Committee communications director Jack Pandol told The Hill in an email that the group "has historically not endorsed in open Republican primaries and that will not change for the 2024 cycle."
Beyond the party's official campaign arms, the Congressional Leadership Fund – a super PAC endorsed by House Republican leadership – agreed last month with the Club for Growth that the former group will not spend in open primaries in safe GOP districts.
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