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Senator Just Back From Afghanistan To Run For Congress

Virginia Alvino
/
Indiana Public Broadcasting

State Sen. Jim Banks (R-Columbia City) announced Tuesday he’s running for Congress. The seat is being vacated by Marlin Stutzman (R-3rd), who’s stepping down to run for the U.S. Senate.

Banks asked his supporters to help send him to Washington just three weeks after he returned home from an eight-month mission to Afghanistan.

The Navy Reserve officer was deployed last September. His wife Amanda took his place in the General Assembly for the 2015 session.

Jim Banks has served in the General Assembly for five years, and supported pro-life, free market, and small government legislation.

He says his campaign for the third congressional district will focus on supporting the military, cleaning up the Veterans Administration, and creating economic prosperity.

“We will talk about creating jobs right here in the Third Congressional District by once and for all ending the medical device tax, and by protecting and growing the 122nd Fighter Wing,” Banks says.

Banks could face a crowded primary. Republican State Senator Liz Brown (R-Fort Wayne) is expected to announce her candidacy for the seat this month. And Warsaw resident Pam Galloway announced her candidacy Monday.