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Jan. 17 (UPI) -- Indiana Republican Rep. Jim Banks, an ally of former President Donald Trump, threw his hat in the ring to replace departing Sen. Mike Braun. Banks wrote that he believes the Senate "needs a shake up" in a tweet announcing his bid for the seat.
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"I'm running to be part of the next generation of conservative leadership, he wrote.
He also called out the Biden administration in another tweet.
"We need conservatives in Washington who aren't afraid to fight Biden's radical agenda," Banks wrote.
Braun, who won the Senate seat in 2018, announced in November that he would seek the governorship and not pursue re-election to Washington.
Banks now jumps in the race as rumors swirl that former Indiana governor and Purdue University president Mitch Daniels, who served in the George W. Bush administration, is considering a run. The conservative Club for Growth Action PAC has vowed to defeat Daniels.
Daniels won two terms as Indiana governor and would likely be considered a strong contender if he joined the race. In 2012, he flirted with running for the Republican nomination for president, but sat the campaign out, leading to current Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, winning the nomination.
Banks was a leader of the Republican Study Committee, the largest conservative caucus in the House. He was suspended from Twitter in 2021 for a brief time for a post misgendering Dr. Rachel Levine, the nation's first openly transgender four-star officer.
He was also one of two Republicans rejected by former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in 2021 to serve on the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol,
