“Maybe I can find ways to contribute that do not involve holding elective office. If not, there is so much more to life,” Daniels added. “People obsessed with politics or driven by personal ambition sometimes have difficulty understanding those who are neither.”
Daniels’ decision marks the end of a monthslong flirtation with a return to electoral politics after a stint as president of Purdue University. And it limits the likelihood of a costly and messy Republican primary, one that would have pitted a conservative fixture of the Reagan era against a sharp-elbowed MAGA upstart in Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.), who has announced his candidacy for the Senate.
Senate Republicans had been eager to avoid a contested primary for what should be a safe red seat. And with Daniels out, there was little appetite for Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-Ind.) or another Indiana Republican to get in the race with so many opportunities elsewhere on the Senate map to go on offense.
National Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee Chairman Steve Daines (R-Mont.) released a supportive statement on Tuesday saying he looked “forward to working with one of our top recruits this cycle, Jim Banks, to keep Indiana red in 2024,” a clear signal that the party is comfortable with Banks at this point. Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) also endorsed Banks on Tuesday, joining Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Tom Cotton (R-Ark.).
“I’m excited about the early momentum and support for our campaign but we’ve got a long way to go,” Banks said on Tuesday morning.
Daniels said he had considered running on a pledge to serve just one six-year term.
“I would have returned any unspent campaign funds to their donors, closed any political accounts, and devoted six years to causes I think critical to the long-term safety and prosperity of our country,” he said.
In his statement, Daniels said he would have focused on safety net programs, national security in the face of a “would-be superpower” in China and securing the border without foreclosing on broader immigration reform.
“And I would have tried to work on these matters in a way that might soften the harshness and personal vitriol that has infected our public square, rendering it not only repulsive to millions of Americans, but also less capable of effective action to meet our threats and seize our opportunities,” he said.
This is the second time Daniels has turned down a chance to join that chamber: In late 1988, he declined Gov Robert Orr’s offer to fill the vacancy created by Dan Quayle’s ascent to the vice presidency. Daniels also famously turned down a 2012 presidential bid, citing concerns of his wife and daughters.
Braun’s seat, however, had special meaning to Daniels and his allies. He helped the late Sen. Dick Lugar first capture the seat in 1976 before serving as his chief of staff for five years. Daniels then ascended to oversee all national Senate races as the executive director of the Republican Party’s campaign arm.
Lugar would later lose the seat after being defeated by Richard Mourdock in the GOP primary in 2012. Former Democratic Sen. Joe Donnelly would beat Mourdock later that fall. But Braun would then go on to defeat Donnelly in 2018.
Daniels was always somewhat unlikely to take a non-executive role that would have him shuttling to D.C. Still, a small circle of Daniels advisers had gone so far as to recruit a potential campaign manager and had begun preparing paperwork for him to file for a run. Last Wednesday, Daniels made the rounds in Washington, visiting with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Daines, Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.), and Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.). Meanwhile, Banks huddled with Vance and Donald Trump Jr. at the Capitol Hill Club — a GOP power hub.
McConnell himself met with both Daniels and Banks last week. The meeting with Banks went “very well,” according to a person familiar with the meeting.
Even before announcing, Daniels faced attacks from Trump world painting him as a RINO. The deep-pocketed Club for Growth also sought to keep him out of the race with a small statewide ad buy blasting his record. Daniels, who never ran a negative ad in his two gubernatorial campaigns in the 2000s, would have found himself in a very different political climate today.
“My one tour of duty in elected office involved, like those in business before and academe after it, an action job, with at least the chance to do useful things every day,” Daniels said. “I have never imagined that I would be well-suited to legislative office, particularly where seniority remains a significant factor in one’s effectiveness, and I saw nothing in my recent explorations that altered that view.”
