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GOP Indiana Senate Candidate Mike Braun Says Kavanaugh Was The Catalyst For His Recent Poll Surge

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Nick Givas Media And Politics Reporter
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Indiana Republican Senate candidate Mike Braun credited Democrats on Wednesday for his recent surge in an internal poll, noting his polling numbers increased after Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation.

“Fox & Friends” co-host Ainsley Earhardt pointed out Braun’s opponent, Democratic Sen. Joe Donnelly, voted against Kavanaugh and then asked if that would be a deciding factor in the race.

“He did [vote against Kavanaugh], and from that point you can measure it on our internals and some other polls we’ve built, I think a 4- to 5-point lead, and that was the catalyst,” Braun replied. (RELATED: If Midterms Are About Brett Kavanaugh Democrats Are In Deep Trouble, Says CNN Senior Politics Analyst)

“I think it also exposed kind of an ugly underbelly to how the other side litigates any issue,” he continued. “It’s mostly on kind of demonizing and you know, just trying to tear down. I think the public is really starving for some real solutions not to where you’re trying to tear folks down.”

Braun also highlighted issues he believes are most important to Indiana voters earlier in the interview and said it will come down to health care and border security.

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“I think health care is the most important issue that I’m seeing out there, but border security is as well,” Braun said. “Here in the Hoosier state, border security and cost of health care and actually folks worried about Social Security and Medicare being sound when they need it.”

“The caravan looks frightening. When you see what looks like an armada headed your way in a brazen way that looks like it’s going to try to breach the border — to me it’s symptomatic of the fact that we’ve not put any discipline on the border,” he said.

“A lot of problems are associated with it. Thank goodness President Trump’s taking it seriously, and I like the fact that he’s going to draw the line here that you can’t march forward and intend to blast through the border. I think it’s going to be interesting to see how it all pans out. But I think it’s going to be the defining issue in terms of what we do with border security.”

While Donnelly has an average 0.8-point lead in the race, according to Real Clear Politics polling between Sept. 29 and Oct. 20, an Indy Politics poll shows Braun with a 4-point lead between Oct. 15 and 20. RCP lists the race as a toss-up.

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