Indiana Senate: Jim Banks (R)
A native of Indiana, Jim Banks describes himself as “the only true conservative” running for the state’s U.S. Senate seat.
Born to a working class family — his father worked in manufacturing for auto industry supplier Dana Incorporated in Fort Wayne — Banks was the first member of his family to attend college, earning his bachelor’s degree from Indiana University in Bloomington and a master’s in Business Administration from Grace College.
Following his graduation, Banks worked in the real estate and construction industry in Fort Wayne.
He entered politics by successfully running for a seat on the Whitley County Council and then was elected to the state senate.
In 2014, Banks took a leave of absence from the state senate to fulfill his deployment obligation with the U.S. Navy Reserve, in which he serves as a Supply Corps officer.
Sent to Afghanistan, Banks’s leave of absence extended through the start of the senate’s 2015 legislative session.
Invoking an Indiana state law that allows state and local officeholders to take leaves of absence during active duty military service, Banks was temporarily replaced by his wife, Amanda Banks, who held the office until he returned that May.
Since being elected to Congress in 2016, Banks, who represents Indiana’s 3rd Congressional District, has been a member of the House Republicans’ conservative delegation.
In addition to serving on the House Armed Services Committee and the House Committees on Education and Workforce, Banks was chairman of the Republican Study Committee, a caucus of conservative GOP members of the House.
In 2023, Banks was appointed to the newly created House Select Committee on China, which has the sole focus on meeting the threat to American national security posed by the Chinese Communist Party. In the current Congress, he also serves as the chairman of the Military Personnel Subcommittee on House Armed Services.
His website notes that he was recognized by the Family Research Council for his 100%, pro-life, pro-family voting record, and earned an A rating from the National Rifle Association.
Banks and his wife Amanda, who works for the Family Policy Foundation, have three daughters, Lillian, Elizabeth, and Joann.
The above information was sourced from the candidate’s website.
