A ninth Republican candidate has entered the race for the party’s 3rd District House nomination.
Fort Wayne businessman and former GOP mayoral nominee Tim Smith announced his campaign this week.
Smith joined eight other candidates in the Republican field that includes Huntington State Senator Andy Zay, former Allen Circuit Court Judge Wendy Davis and Former Third District Congressman Marlin Stutzman.
In 2019, Smith ran for Fort Wayne Mayor, losing to incumbent Tom Henry by almost 13 percent. Now, Smith is running as “an outsider,” similar to his campaign message in 2019.
In his announcement, Smith said his focus “will be to end wokeness and expand freedom.”
Smith is running to replace Jim Banks in Congress, who is running to replace Mike Braun in the Senate, who is running to replace Eric Holcomb as Indiana governor.
Holcomb is termed out of his governorship and will not run for another office in 2024.