Indiana U.S. Senator-elect Jim Banks on Trump’s 2024 win and more

stockings affected Republican US Rep. Jim Banks on Tuesday to become Indiana’s next U.S. senator. wave of major Republican victories in the Indiana election.

Banks, who was endorsed by former President Donald Trumpwon his race with nearly 60% of the vote. He will be sworn in to serve alongside him in the U.S. Senate in January. US Senator Todd YoungIndiana’s senior senator.

The senator-elect spoke with IndyStar Thursday afternoon about Republican victories in Indiana, what Trump’s victory means as he heads to the U.S. Senate and the first actions he wants the chamber to take once Trump returns to the White House.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

On Tuesday you won by about 20 percentage points. What do double-digit victories for GOP candidates in statewide elections mean for the GOP?

JIM BANKS: In the end, it’s all because of Donald Trump. Donald Trump has coattails and now everything is three times bigger Donald Trump was on the ballotwe won seats in Congress. He’s bringing Republicans with him because Donald Trump has changed the Republican Party.

I mean, you have blue collar unions and working class voters who used to vote for Democrats who are Trump Republicans. You see it among steel workers and workers in the region, factory workers in Fort Wayne and places like Terre Haute and Evansville. I mean, these working class cities and towns and communities across Indiana that used to be Democrats are now decidedly Trump Republicans because the Democrats have completely abandoned the working class voters that used to be part of their coalition, their party. They are now voting Republican because Donald Trump represents their values and the new Republican Party represents them.

You close to Trump and Vice President-elect J.D. Vance. Have you spoken to them since Tuesday?

BANKS: I wrote to both of them, congratulated them, thanked them for their support and communicated with many of my friends on the Trump team. Once again the result was better than we expected. We now have a mission and a mandate, and President Trump is focused today on making important Cabinet decisions, and I know he will appoint his chief of staff soon. All this will happen very quickly. And suddenly I find myself in the position of being the next senator, where I will vote to confirm these nominees in the Senate.

If the new Trump administration were to look at you for a Cabinet or other role, would you consider it?

BANKS: I was the first candidate in this election cycle almost two years ago. that Donald Trump endorsed the candidacy of US senator. This is exactly where Donald Trump wants me to be in the Senate, and this is exactly where Indiana just elected me.

I am fully committed to becoming the Senator from Indiana within the next six years, and I have a big job and role to play to support President Trump in the United States Senate. This is what Indiana expects of me, so President Trump will ask me to do something else, but it won’t happen.

You will go to the US Senate with a Republican majority. What issues do you hope the House will decide once you are sworn in?

BANKS: When Donald Trump is inaugurated on January 20, he will get into his car and drive to Pennsylvania Avenue. He’s going to throw open that door and walk into the Oval Office, and he’s going to sign executive orders to restore Trump’s border policies. Remain in Mexican politics. He’s going to end catch and release and let us finish the construction. border wall. And he will count on me and the Republicans in the US Senate to support him on this issue and fund the construction of the border wall.

And after that, we are going to begin the process of deporting the more than 15 million illegal immigrants who came to our country under the watch of Joe Biden. So in the U.S. Senate, I will be involved in making sure that happens. This is what voters demanded on election night. They are tired of open border policies, and the Democrats’ crazy policies have driven up food prices, the cost of filling up gas tanks, and the cost of living for working class people in this country. They expect us to have a majority in the United States Senate, and I think we are going to maintain a majority in the House of Representatives to end the crazy policies of the last four years. They have done so much harm to this country.

The Senate will have to choose a Republican majority leader. Do you have any thoughts on who you will support?

BANKS: We have three senators who are running for this positionStars: Rick Scott, John Cornyn and John Thune. All this will happen next week. The House will meet to choose a speaker, and House Republicans will meet to elect their nominees for leadership positions, and the Senate will have to do the same. I will attend Senate organizing meetings and tell you what I’m looking for: I will support the best candidate who supports Donald Trump.

You will work with fellow Indiana U.S. Senator Todd Young, who has been critical of Trump’s 2024 re-election bid. How do you plan to work with him on issues affecting Hoosiers?

BANKS: Todd and I have been friends for a long time. He’s such a veteran. We have worked closely together over the past eight years, he in the Senate and I in the House, on issues important to Indiana. This won’t change.

Contact IndyStar state government and political reporter Brittany Carloni at [email protected] or 317-779-4468. Follow her on Twitter/X@CarloniBrittany.