WASHINGTON _ Indiana state Rep. Jim Baird won the GOP nomination for Indiana's 4th District Tuesday, defeating two opponents who outraised and outspent him.
Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales rates the 4th District race Solid Republican, so Baird is likely the next member of Congress from this seat. Current GOP Rep. Todd Rokita isn't running for re-election because he ran for the GOP Senate nomination. He lost Tuesday night.
Baird's victory here is a surprise. Many eyes had been on former state Rep. Steve Braun, whose brother, former state Rep. Mike Braun, won the GOP nomination for Senate.
In an interview in the district in April, Baird said he hadn't been in touch with the National Republican Congressional Committee and hadn't done any polling.
He had loaned his campaign $200,000 by the end of the pre-primary reporting period and raised little else. He's working with Indiana-based consulting firm Mark It Red, which is also working with Mike Braun in the Senate race.
Baird may have garnered some late attention in the district from mailers from a North Carolina-based super PAC that attacked him for voting for a gas tax that would cost Hoosiers "an arm and a leg." Baird, an Army veteran, lost his left arm in Vietnam and won two Purple Hearts.
Baird earned his doctorate at the University of Kentucky. A former Putnam County Commissioner, Baird and his wife started a home health care agency and own several real estate and agricultural businesses in the area.
