Banks, Jim

Jim Banks represents Indiana in the U.S. Senate as a Republican, having assumed office in 2025. Born in Columbia City, Indiana, in 1979, Banks earned a bachelor's degree in political science from Indiana University Bloomington and an MBA from Grace College & Seminary. Before his Senate election, he worked in real estate and construction in Fort Wayne and served in local and state government, including as a Whitley County councilman from 2008 to 2010 and as an Indiana state senator from 2010 to 2016. He also serves as a Supply Corps officer in the U.S. Navy Reserve, taking a leave of absence from the state senate in 2014 to deploy to Afghanistan. Banks represented Indiana's 3rd congressional district in the U.S. House from 2017 to 2025, winning reelection in 2018, 2020, and 2022.

In the Senate, Banks serves on four major committees: Armed Services, Banking Housing and Urban Affairs, Health Education Labor and Pensions, and Veterans' Affairs. Within these committees, he holds positions on subcommittees focused on personnel, seapower, strategic forces, economic policy, national security and international trade, securities and investment, employment and workplace safety, primary health and retirement security, education and the American family, and veterans' affairs. His legislative priorities reflect his military background and focus on defense readiness and veteran support.

Banks has sponsored or cosponsored numerous bills addressing military and veteran concerns, including the Veterans SPORT Act, the RAYS Act, and the Health Care for Homeless Veterans Act, among approximately 85 total measures. During his House tenure, he voted to object to the certification of the 2020 presidential election results in 2021. He won the 2024 Senate race unopposed in the Republican primary and defeated Democratic nominee Valerie McCray in the general election, succeeding Mike Braun.