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Congressmen upset by Braun’s victory

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Three men spent the day waiting and watching to see who among them would be the Republican candidate to face U.S. Sen. Joe Donnelly in the November election. At 9 p.m., Mike Braun gave his victory speech.

WISH-TV’s Megan Sanctorum spent the day with Braun campaign staff and supporters at Moontown Brewing in Whitestown. 

The Braun campaign told her they felt good about the race all night. Braun identified himself  as a career businessman — rather than career politician, which is what he called his opponents, Indiana congressmen Luke Messer and Todd Rokita.

In his victory speech, Braun said he’s hoping both men will support him in moving forward, saying all three of them have the same goal: to defeat incumbent Joe Donnelly.

Braun said he knows there’s still a lot of work to be done before November, but he has a plan to win by focusing on his past — and his accomplishments in the business sector. 

WISH-TV’s Eric Feldman was at U.S. Rep. Luke Messer’s field campaign office on the north side of Indianapolis.

While he says the crowd was disappointed with the outcome on Tuesday night, there was a huge roar when Messer came in with his family by his side.

“We’re of course disappointed with the results of this election, but as Jennifer (his wife) was saying to me over the weekend, ‘Look, we are very confident that God has great plans ahead for our nation, our state and the Messer family,” Messer said.

WISH-TV’s David Williams said it felt like a party early Tuesday night inside the Brickyard Crossing at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where U.S. Rep. Todd Rokita and his supporters gathered to watch election results roll in with excitement.

But that excitement turned to tears, and Rokita took the stage with his family to conceded the race to Braun.

“I want to congratulate Mike Braun on his victory tonight. I hope he will rise to the occasion and truly fight for this state. I know he has it in him and not just waging an expensive media campaign to buy a Senate seat, only to keep Washington at the status quo.”