Valerie McCray wins Democratic primary for U.S. Senate, will face Jim Banks in November
Indianapolis psychologist Valerie McCray is the Democratic nominee to fill one of Indiana's U.S. Senate seats.
With 99% of the vote tallied Wednesday morning, McCray earned a 36-percentage-point lead over former state Rep. Marc Carmichael.
The Republican nomination was assured for lone candidate U.S. Rep. Jim Banks. McCray will face Banks and Libertarian Andrew Horning in the general election for the seat that Sen. Mike Braun vacated to run for governor.
McCray bested Carmichael in most counties, but Carmichael edged a slim win in Jackson County and his birthplace of Delaware County.
The last time Hoosiers elected a Democrat to a statewide office was in 2012, when Joe Donnelly was elected to the U.S. Senate and Glenda Ritz became state schools superintendent.
More: In the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate, candidates are not worried about Jim Banks
Banks has a sizeable war chest worth more than $4.7 million, plus endorsements from former President Donald Trump and conservative fundraising powerhouse Club for Growth. Banks almost had a primary challenger in egg tycoon John Rust, but Rust got knocked off the ballot due to his prior voting record.
Carmichael and McCray raised far less ― Carmichael about $112,000 and McCray about $15,000 through mid-April.
McCray, a clinical psychologist who works with prisoners at an Indiana women's prison, has focused her campaign on mental health. She also ran for president in 2020 on a similar platform.
Previously, McCray and her son operated two scooter stores in Indianapolis.
In Carmichael's first election to state representative in 1986, he unseated incumbent Republican J. Roberts Dailey, Speaker of the House.
Carmichael served in the House until 1991, then spent most of his post-legislative career as president of the Indiana Beverage Alliance, the trade association for beer distributors. He retired in 2020.
He emerged from a long political hibernation specifically, he said, to give Hoosiers an option other than Banks, whose stance on social issues he considers "mean-spirited" and "out of touch."
Thinking of his granddaughters motivated him to run to help restore access to abortion, Carmichael has said.
More: IndyStar examined U.S. Rep. Jim Banks' record in Congress and the Statehouse
Contact IndyStar state government and politics reporter Kayla Dwyer at [email protected] or follow her on Twitter @kayla_dwyer17.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Election results: Valerie McCray will face U.S. Rep. Jim Banks