Indiana Manufacturers Association (IMA) Endorses Mike Braun for U.S. Senate

IMA: Indiana Is the Most Manufacturing Intensive State in America

Mike Braun thanks supporters after winning the republican primary in Whitestown, Ind., Tuesday, May 8, 2018. Braun faced Todd Rokita and Luke Messer in the Republican primary race. Braun advances to a November matchup with Democrat Joe Donnelly, who is considered one of the Senate’s most vulnerable incumbents. (Photo: AP)

The Indiana Manufacturers Association (IMA) endorsed Republican businessman Mike Braun for U.S. Senate. The businessman from Jasper, who upset two sitting congressmen to earn the right to challenge vulnerable incumbent Senator Joe Donnelly, D-Ind., in November, previously received the endorsement of the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB).

The IMA released the following statement in full:

Indiana is the most manufacturing intensive state in America. More of this state’s economy and jobs are produced by manufacturing than any other industry. More Hoosiers work in manufacturing than in any other industry. Policies that help manufacturers help Hoosiers. We have examined each candidate in the Indiana United States Senate race and have determined that Mike Braun is best suited to advance those policies in Congress.

While Indiana has made wonderful strides in creating an economic climate that will lead to growth, there are significant issues impacting Indiana manufacturers. Many of these issues originate in Washington, D.C. We need leaders who will support pro-growth, commonsense legislation that helps Hoosier manufacturers compete around the world. The IMA is confident that Mike Braun is the best qualified candidate, with a proved track-record to achieve these goals.

The IMA is proud to endorse Mike Braun for the United States Senate.

In 2016, President Donald Trump crushed Hillary Clinton in Indiana, 56.8% to 37.9%. Vice President Mike Pence calls it home and Senator Donnelly largely secured reelection in 2012 because of a flawed challenger. The president, who remains very popular in the state, endorsed Mr. Braun and both have seized on the issue of trade and manufacturing.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a division within the U.S. Labor Department, the state of Indiana lost at least 18% of the manufacturing industry during the period 1994 to 2015, years impacted by the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the World Trade Organization (WTO).

The cutoff for the figure is the second quarter of 2015, when the latest available employment data was released by the Labor Department.

From the third quarter of 1993 to the aforementioned period, The Hoosier State lost at least 113,000 manufacturing jobs, a conservative number that factors both jobs created by exports and jobs displaced by imports. Meanwhile, the percentage of all private sector jobs that are manufacturing jobs in the state of Indiana fell from 28% to 20.2% during the NAFTA-WTO period.

From the time NAFTA was enacted in 1994 to 2010, the Economic Policy Institute found that 24,400 jobs had been lost or displaced in Indiana–not to mention about 700,000 in the U.S.–due only to the rise in the U.S.-Mexican trade deficit alone.

Carrier, an Indianapolis-based manufacturing plant, announced in February 2015 that they would ship more than a thousand jobs to Mexico. Then-candidate Trump, who ran on renegotiating NAFTA and withdrawing the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), pledged to keep those jobs in the U.S. if elected. Even before he was sworn in, then-President-elect Trump secured a deal to reverse the company’s decision, and held the announcement event in Indiana.

Upon taking office, President Trump signed an executive order withdrawing the U.S. from TPP and the White House recently announced the renegotiation of NAFTA into the United States Mexico Canada Agreement (USMCA). The new deal includes some of the strongest U.S. worker protections ever in a trade agreement, including raising the minimum requirements for wages and production levels.

“Manufacturing is the backbone of Indiana’s economy, and I’m honored to accept this endorsement from Indiana’s leading advocate for manufacturers: the IMA,” Mr. Braun said in a statement. “In my four decades building a business, I’ve jumped over just about every hurdle Washington can put in your path.”

“I look forward to working with the IMA to help Indiana manufacturing keep thriving and to keep Washington out of their way.”

The U.S. Senate Election Projection Model projects Indiana a Battleground, though it’s threatening a revision to Slightly Republican.