CNN
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Mitch Daniels has decided against running for the 2024 Indiana Senate, citing a possible Republican primary between the popular former governor and the Trump world lining up behind Rep. Jim Banks. ended sex.
“It’s not a job for me, it’s not a town for me, it’s not the life I want to live at the moment,” Daniels said in a statement.
Daniels, 73, recently stepped down as president of Purdue University and was considering running for Senator Mike Brown’s 2024 run for governor.
He considered doing it “clearly on a one-term basis,” and said it would “relieve the harshness and personal bitterness that has infected our public squares, only to make it a disgust to millions of Americans.” However, they are unable to take effective action to address threats and seize opportunities.”
“Maybe we can find ways to contribute that don’t involve holding public office. Otherwise, there’s so much more to do in life,” Daniels said in a statement. Those who are selfish or driven by personal ambitions can have a hard time understanding those who are neither. I want you to think seriously and understand that I am a citizen and a patriot who has simply decided that the Senate is not the only way out.”
Banks, a pro-Trump conservative from northeastern Indiana, is already running for the Senate. And Club for Growth launched a preemptive ad attacking the 73-year-old Daniels, calling him a “completely unfighting” “conservative Republican.”
Daniels’ allies began preparing for a primary showdown with Banks. One person close to Daniels described the relationship between conservatives focused on winning elections and achieving policy goals and Trump-style “grifters” who “make big money in the business of howling the moon” and pull back the Republican Party. I explained that it could be competitive. process.
But Daniels said he couldn’t shake the feeling that he wasn’t fit for the legislative role.
“My one stint in elected office, like those in business before it, and academia after it, was a job of action, giving me the opportunity to do something useful at least every day,” Daniels said. There was,” he said. “I never imagined I would be a good fit for the legislature, especially when seniority is a key component of competence. Recent research has found nothing to change that view. ”
His decision means less turmoil for Republicans who are in a red-hot state. Montana Senator Steve Daines, chairman of the National Republican Senate Committee, said the Republican Senate campaign branch supports Banks.
“I have the utmost respect for the years of service that Governor Daniels has brought to Indiana and wish him the best of luck in his future endeavors. I look forward to working with Jim Banks, a man.
Daniels began his political career on the staff of former Senator Richard Luger. He was first Mayor of Indianapolis and then Senator. He served as Luger’s chief of staff in Washington in his 1970s and his 1980s, led Luger’s political campaigns, and during the 1984 election cycle he served as executive director of the NRSC.
He left Washington to become chief executive officer of the Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly Company, but returned to politics in the early 2000s to serve as director of former President George W. Bush’s Office of Management and Budget.
Elected governor in 2004 and 2008, he was the dominant figure in Indiana politics at the time, leading the Republican government through a rapid period of education reform, budget cuts, and diminished labor union power. was
He was widely considered the 2012 Republican presidential nominee, but withdrew from the race, citing family concerns.
Instead, upon Daniels’ resignation, he was appointed president of Purdue University. This is a position he held for 10 years before resigning late last year. During that time, he mostly avoided commenting on political issues.
Still, Daniels cast a long shadow over Indiana state politics. Former Vice President Mike Pence, who was elected governor of Indiana after Daniels, struggled to gain the kind of clout Daniels had, but in 2016 Pence became Trump’s running mate. Republican Eric Holcombe was Daniels’ political right-hand man during his governorship.
