A local candidate seeking his brother’s former U.S. House of Representatives seat leads the primary race in contributions.
Republican candidate Greg Pence, who is following in Vice President Mike Pence’s footsteps in seeking the 6th District House seat, has almost $1.2 million in contributions, far surpassing his nearest competitor, Muncie’s Jonathan Lamb at $845,000.
In the Republican primary race for the U.S. Senate seat held by Democrat Joe Donnelly, Republican Mike Braun is leading in campaign funding at nearly $6 million, followed with about $3 million for the campaign of Republican Luke Messer. Republican Todd Rokita reported donations of about $2.6 million as of the April 13 reporting deadline.
U.S. Representative: 6th District
Some Republicans may experience a sense of déjà vu when they see the name Pence on the ballot for Congress during the primary.
Candidate Greg Pence is the older brother of Mike Pence, who represented the 6th district in the U.S. House from 2003 through 2012. From there, the Columbus native served one term as Indiana governor before being chosen by Donald Trump as his running mate, and becoming vice president of the United States in January 2017.
Greg Pence had reached $1.19 million in contributions. That’s 41 percent more than the $845,000 that Muncie entrepreneur Lamb has accumulated for his campaign. Of Lamb’s total, about half came from his own money, according to campaign reports.
Greg Pence still had nearly $1 million to spend at the time reports were filed, while Lamb had about $36,000 cash in hand.
The remainder of the field seeking the 6th District nomination includes Michael Crider, who raised about $69,000 and reports zero cash on hand, and Stephen MacKenzie, who raised about 14,000 in his campaign.
On the Democratic side, the top fundraiser is Kenneth Lave, who raised $5,423 by the end of March, and James Pruett, who reported about $2,600.
U.S. Senate
Messer, who currently holds the 6th District House seat, is seeking the Republican nomination for Indiana’s U.S. Senate seat in a three-way field for a chance to run against Democrat Joe Donnelly this fall.
A number of national media outlets have described the Republican primary race between Messer, Todd Rokita, and Mike Braun as one of the most aggressive in the country this year.
The incumbent, Donnelly, is reporting a formidable campaign war chest of $10.2 million, according to reports filed last month.
In comparison, Braun had about $5.94 million, much of it from his own funds, and reporting about $1.3 million in cash on hand.
As of the reporting deadline, Messer reported contributions of $2.9 million, with $1.06 million of remaining cash on hand.
Rokita was not far behind in his filing. He showed $2.68 million, with about $1.85 million that had not been spent.
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See what candidates have raised, spent. Page A5.
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