Third District Congressman Jim Banks has been running for the Senate like he has an opponent, and primary voters on May 7 will give him one.

Two Democrats want the nomination — Marc Carmichael and Dr. Valerie McCray — both of whom said that reinstating abortion rights and tackling ongoing immigration issues are among their top priorities, if elected.

Still, it’s been more than a decade since Hoosiers sent a Democrat, Joe Donnelly, to the U.S. Senate.

McCray, a clinical psychologist, is championing mental and reproductive healthcare, emphasizing that her work in the field, as well as her “personal and up close experiences as a female,” make her best suited to tackle policy solutions on those topics.

A former state lawmaker and longtime lobbyist, Carmichael said he’s looking to model himself after Indiana’s senior U.S. Sen. Todd Young and find bipartisan solutions to issues affecting Hoosiers.

“My whole political career I spent working with Republicans, making friendships with Republicans that I’ve maintained to this day, and I think we’ve got to get back to that if we’re ever going to get things done and quit these culture wars that we have now,” Carmichael said. “I just do not want someone out of that ‘chaos caucus’ in the U.S. House, like Banks, to be my United States senator. That means I’ve got to run.”

Banks, a GOP favorite who has already spent nearly eight years in Congress, has a multimillion-dollar campaign war chest and an endorsement from former President Donald Trump. Even so, both Democratic contenders said they’re confident they could win over Banks in this November’s general election. Hoosiers, they said, are looking for someone more moderate and less “extreme.”

“I think Jim Banks is focused on divisive issues. How do we round people up? How do we make them angry? How do we make them feel that someone else is getting something that they are not, that somehow they’re being shorted?” McCray said. “There is, I believe, so many more commonalities among people. I can unite all these groups, regardless of whatever their political signage is.”

Banks is unopposed in the Republican primary after Seymour egg farmer John Rust was removed due to Indiana’s two-primary rule. Also confirmed on this fall’s general election ballot is Libertarian Andrew Horning, who was selected as the party’s candidate during its annual convention last month.

The Senate seat is being vacated by Republican Mike Braun, who is currently vying for the GOP nomination in Indiana’s gubernatorial race.

‘Uniting’ Hoosiers and increasing healthcare access

McCray first launched a Senate campaign two years ago. She didn’t get enough voter signatures to make it on the ballot, however, calling the signature campaign “a horrendous, complicated task.”

But this time around, McCray said her grassroots team was “relentless,” having learned from past runs “how not to get distracted and where to go for signatures.” She reached the 4,500 signatures needed “with time to spare.”

Federal campaign finance data shows Carmichael raised nearly $112,000 through mid-April. McCray has raised a little more than $14,000. Banks has raised more than $4.1 million this election cycle so far. There are no federal reports on Horning’s Senate fundraising as of mid-April.

“Every time I do these campaigns, it’s a financial sacrifice for me. It leaves me struggling, usually. And then I have to get into gear to make that up,” said McCray, who also ran a brief campaign for president in 2020. “But I’m thankful for that process because it makes me remember what my constituents are going through.”

She was working within several Indiana prisons when she initially made the decision to seek federal office.

“So many things I was seeing in there were going wrong,” McCray said, in part pointing to mistreatment of transgender inmates. “We need someone in office that is really sensitive to these issues — that are sensitive to the mental health issues.”

Although immigration isn’t “top of the list” for McCray, she said “it gets in the way of things that should be … like our schools and our medical care system, and addressing climate change.”

“In Indiana, we need migrant workers to help with our farming, to help with some of the infrastructure things — we’re using these people to get our economy rolling. But yet, still, we have this conversation that is so negative,” she said. “Immigration is important for me because it’s in the way of reasonable conversations to get the whole society going. Let’s speed up the process to make sure that people are safe coming over … and let’s move onto other things.”

McCray said the “Israeli-Palestine issue” is among those other topics.

“What’s going on now feels cruel, one-sided. It feels like we’re not holding the values of both people equally,” she said. “It would have been so nice to get a two state solution. I don’t know if we can go back to that. My goal is to make sure that we can try to heal that situation and find a solution. But in the meantime, we’re not going to be able to find a solution if we don’t stop the killing.”

Seeking return to elected office

Although retired from politics, Carmichael said he was compelled to run for the open Senate seat after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.

“I have four granddaughters … and now, they don’t have the same rights that their moms and their grandmothers had for 50 years,” he said. “I’ve got to do something about that.”

Carmichael said his Indiana Statehouse resumé is a testament to what he can accomplish in Congress. He additionally pointed to his first race for the Indiana House in 1986, when he was up against J. Roberts Dailey, then the Republican House Speaker.

“He was sitting in a 60% Republican district, and no one thought that I could beat him. Starting in July with a cheap little brochure, I went door to door because I didn’t have any money, but I had the time after work. I would spend a couple of hours each evening in the precincts, handing out that brochure and getting to know people,” Carmichael said. His shoe leather campaigning helped him secure an 18-point margin — “a huge upset” — over Dailey that fall.

“The perception is that statewide in Indiana, Democrats can’t win. And yet I’ve been in that situation before, and I know the only thing you can do is just work and go places and meet people and make speeches,” Carmichael continued. “I know what’s ahead of me. I know how to do that.”

In the U.S. Senate, he would quickly seek to work on banning the sale of assault weapons, requiring universal background checks for those purchasing firearms and enacting a national “red flag” law to ensure guns don’t end up in the wrong hands.

“We need to try and do what we can to affect gun violence and mass shootings that occur and are enabled by the purchase of assault weapons,” Carmichael said. 

“Immediate action on global warming” is also high on his to-do list, along with affordable housing, especially in rural regions, and a “Medicare for All” plan, so “everyone has access to medical care — especially our our LGBTQ youth, who are being used as political pawns by rightwing Republican legislatures.”

With the Democratic nominees for president and governor already effectively secured, Carmichael said he’s hoping that Democrats still show up for the primary and cast their votes in the Senate race.

“I want to defend our democracy against Trumpism. Banks is a Trumper, through and through, and I just can’t imagine how bad things could get if Trump and Banks were elected at the same time, along with Braun and (Indiana Attorney General) Todd Rokita,” Carmichael said.

“This is a campaign that is going to be dominated by women and people who support women coming out to vote,” he continued. “If they come out in the way I think they’re going to come out, and if the people who are upset about gun violence come out, and if the people who are upset about global warming come out, and if the people are concerned about our LGBTQ youth come out, and people who are concerned about democracy or housing — if all those groups come out and vote the way I think they’re going to vote, then I think I’ll be just fine.”

INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Pacers hosted the Milwaukee Bucks for Game 4 of their first-round series on Sunday night. Entering the day, the series was 2-1 in favor of the Pacers, and they had won two straight outings. WIth both Damian Lillard and Giannis Antetokounmpo out for the Bucks, it was an opportunity for Indiana to expand their series lead.

They needed to start strong. A dominant first quarter was critical in their Game 3 victory, and without two stars on the visiting side, they needed to do it again. The healthy Pacers couldn’t afford a slow first few minutes.

The Pacers scored first via a three-point shot from Andrew Nembhard, but the Bucks responded with an 8-2 run to take the lead. It wasn’t the opening minutes that the blue and gold hoped for — their offense wasn’t where it needed to be for the opening possessions.

Both teams traded baskets early in the game, and two technical fouls were called in the first five minutes — one on Pacers forward Pascal Siakam and another on Bucks guard Patrick Beverley. The crowd was tense and annoyed after Siakam was whistled for a tech, but that turned to excitement when Beverley was whistled for his. It was 12-11 in Milwaukee’s favor with 7:04 to go in the first quarter.

The game got chippy a few minutes later. Bobby Portis and Nembhard got tangled up under the Bucks basket, and Portis was hit with two hostile acts from the interaction. He shoved and slapped Nembhard, and he was ejected. Nembhard, meanwhile, was given one technical. Indiana was ahead 18-16 after the exchange.

Obi Toppin checked into the game soon after and changed the makeup of the battle. He raced ahead for some easy baskets and had six quick points. The Bucks were matching his scoring, but it was an impressive stretch from Toppin to keep his team in the game.

Milwaukee’s second unit continued to play well and found space to score. Indiana was struggling to slow them down, and they were giving up points in the paint constantly. Three-point shots were falling for Indiana, who were 7/12 from deep after one quarter, but the Bucks had 20 points in the paint. It was tied at 33 at the time.

The second quarter started with more good play from the Pacers, who jumped ahead 40-37 after a few minutes of play. Rookie guard Ben Sheppard was making shots and playing with energy, which Indiana needed. Their paint defense continued to struggle, though.

As the second quarter progressed, both groups began to trade baskets. But the Pacers were slightly better from the floor, and their starting five came in and got in gear. With 7:22 until halftime, Indiana led 49-44.

The Pacers continued to make threes, which was masking a lot of their mistakes. To the team’s credit, they were generating good looks, but their percentage was unusually high. Indiana’s starting five was finding space all over the floor, but they needed to get some stops.

Late in the half, Indiana’s lead climbed as high as six, but the Bucks answered and trimmed it again. Because the visitors were having so much success around the basket, it was difficult for the blue and gold to go on any sort of run.

Khris Middleton, who scored 42 points in Game 3, hit a shot just before the halftime buzzer. That cut the Pacers edge down to 67-64, and that’s what the score was at halftime. Indiana was 12/22 from deep at the time and had conceded 32 points in the paint. That style felt unsustainable, but the blue and gold had a halftime to adjust their approach.

To get the second half going, the Pacers came out firing. Star guard Tyrese Haliburton hit three outside shots in the first few minutes of the half, and it gave the Pacers a 10-point lead for the first time of the night. He was up to 24 points at the time, and it was 76-66 in favor of Indiana. Milwaukee needed a timeout. Haliburton was having an excellent quarter.

That stretch brought some energy into Gainbridge Fieldhouse, some needed life after the slower start to the action. The crowd was loving the double-digit advantage, but the Pacers needed to keep pushing. Their defense hadn’t been good enough all night to relax.

Halfway through the third period, the Pacers were up 81-76. The Bucks were never going to go away if the blue and gold didn’t find a way to string together stops. Brook Lopez reached 20 points for Milwaukee around that time — he was playing extremely well.

Myles Turner responded with two epic plays. He threw down the dunk of the series so far all over Lopez just after the midway point of the quarter, and with the crowd still celebrating the play, he buried a corner three. That put Indiana up by 12 at 88-76. It was their largest edge of the game to that point, and it prompted a Bucks timeout.

Their lead soon reached 17. Indiana was finally playing good defense, and their offense didn’t slow down in that stretch. It was one of their best sequences of the entire series — the Bucks needed to find answers.

After three quarters, the Pacers were ahead 98-85. Haliburton was up to 24 points for the blue and gold while Turner had 18. Indiana won the third quarter 31-21.

The fourth quarter started with a quick 7-0 run from the Bucks, and that cut the Pacers lead down to six. Pacers head coach Rick Carlise took a timeout at the time — his team needed to regroup. They were struggling.

The stoppage did wonders. The blue and gold were far better for the next few minutes and pushed their lead back to double digits. They were impressive in the second half, and that response did wonders for their confidence and energy.

It also got the crowd back into the game,a dn as the fans were chanting Myles Turner’s name, the big man hit a three that made the arena erupt. It put the Pacers up by 14 and forced a Bucks timeout. Turner was having another excellent game.

The Pacers speed had the Bucks on the back foot for much of the fourth frame. Indiana could get into the lane seemingly at will, and the consistent offense meant that Milwaukee couldn’t keep up. The hosts had the right effort and energy level.

With 3:30 to go, the Pacers were ahead 117-103. They were close to securing their third-straight win in the series, but they needed to make a few more plays down the stretch. One or two more stops and score would get it done.

They happened quickly, with the blue and gold getting a bucket and then a defensive stop in quick succession. That ballooned their lead to 16, which felt unsurmountable with just 2.5 minutes to go on the clock.

The final score was 126-113. The blue and gold took care of business at home to keep their control of the series. It was an impressive outing once again.

Haliburton finished with 24 points and four assists. Turner had 29 points and nine rebounds while Nembhard added 15 points and nine assists. The Pacers had several great performances in the victory.

Indiana now leads the series 3-1, and it shifts back to Milwaukee for Game 5 on Tuesday.

• Pascal Siakam entered the playoffs wanting to be the Indiana Pacers leader. He left Milwaukee on top of the league. CLICK HERE.
• Myles Turner has best career playoff game for Indiana Pacers as film time and maturity mesh.CLICK HERE.
• Tyrese Haliburton and the Pacers delivered a moment fans waited five years to see. CLICK HERE.
• Indiana Pacers survive massive Milwaukee Bucks comeback for overtime win in Game 3. CLICK HERE.
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