State Sen. Andy Zay on Thursday became the first elected official to enter the Republican primary for Indiana’s 3rd Congressional District to succeed Rep. Jim Banks, who is the party’s frontrunner for Senate, in a Fort Wayne-based seat that Trump took 64-34.
Zay got his current post in 2016 after local party leaders appointed him to replace Banks, who was elected to Congress halfway through his legislative term. He made news two years later after a critic released direct messages Zay sent him in 2015 claiming, “Racism is not real. The biggest minority class in America is the white male.” The state senator responded by saying he regretted his words and, as WTHR put it at the time, “eventually” admitted racism is indeed real when asked.
The Republican easily won a full term a few months later, and he’s joined his caucus in voting for the state’s near-total ban on abortion. Zay also supported a bill last week to ban gender-affirming care for anyone under 18.