Braun stops in Lafayette to ‘make the best case’ for his lieutenant gov pick

Sen. Mike Braun touts state Rep. Julie McGuire to GOP delegates two weeks ahead of an unusual party convention showdown against challenger Micah Beckwith. Plus, local ‘Jeopardy’ champ wins, again

Mike Braun talks about why he chose state Rep. Julie McGuire to run as lieutenant governor in the November election.

Less than a month after his Republican primary win for the governor nomination and two weeks away from a state GOP convention fight looming over the party’s lieutenant governor nomination, Sen. Mike Braun came to Lafayette Friday to introduce his pick for a running mate, state Rep. Julie McGuire.

Braun met with more than two dozen Republican delegates for more than an hour at American Legion Post 11, on the second day of what he and McGuire, a first term state representative from Marion County, were touting as a statewide “Freedom and Opportunity Tour.”

“This is a convention prelude,” Braun said. “Since it’s not the normal format, I’m endorsing her and introducing her to the delegates that have the time to listen. I mean, we’re going to do well there, anyway. … And I don’t mind competition at all. I thrive on it. You make the best case.”

The case, here, is the challenge Braun’s pick faces at the June 15 party convention, where Micah Beckwith – a pastor from Noblesville and executive director of Indiana Family Action PAC – has had his name in for the lieutenant governor nomination for the past year.