Governor candidates Jennifer McCormick, Mike Braun release first general election TV ads

Corrections and clarifications: An original version of this story listed the wrong start date of Jennifer McCormick's television ad buy. Her ads started streaming today, but go on air Thursday.

It's officially election season: Democrat Jennifer McCormick and Republican Mike Braun are both hitting the television airwaves tomorrow with their first ads of the general election season.

McCormick's 30-second spot takes direct aim at the Republican party that she left after serving as Indiana's state schools superintendent, saying that she'll "end the extremism" and saying twice that she'll "bring back common sense."

Braun's 30-second TV spot marks a transition in tone from a competitive Republican primary campaign season to a general election in which he needs to appeal to moderate voters. Out with the frequent references to former President Donald Trump, the southern border or China; in with the kitchen-table issues like gas and grocery prices.

Braun, currently a U.S. senator, edged out five other Republicans to secure his nomination in May . McCormick, a former teacher and public school superintendent, ran unopposed in her Democratic primary, and they'll both face Libertarian Donald Rainwater on the ballot in November.

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Braun has considerable advantage in the numbers game this election ― Trump won Indiana in both the 2016 and 2020 elections by at least 16 percentage points, and Braun's campaign war chest of $1.7 million outpaces McCormick's $700,000, as of July 1. McCormick, however, raised much of that cash in a the span of just a few months from small donors, and has raised another $230,000 since mid July from large donors, mostly I-PACE, the state teachers union's political action committee.

A Democrat hasn't won an Indiana gubernatorial election in more than two decades.

What the gubernatorial ads say

McCormick made a six-figure ad buy and plans to stay on the air through the election, a campaign spokesperson said.

In the ad, she reminds viewers that they first elected her to the Statehouse as a Republican. But in contrast with her mission to "serve Hoosiers," she says, "some Republicans had other ideas" ― namely, becoming the first state to pass a near-total abortion ban post-Roe v. Wade.

"My party changed, but what I believe hasn't," she says.

She says in the ad she wants to repeal the abortion ban, lower taxes and "deliver for our kids."

Braun's ad, a $500,000 ad buy lasting 10 days, begins by setting the scene in Jasper, Indiana, Braun's hometown, where he "kept his head down" and built his company, Meyer Distributing, into a national enterprise.

"He'll use that same determination for us," the ad reads: To lower the price of gas, groceries and health care, and to "improve education" ― in other words, expand school choice, as text on the ad says.

"Because when you're Mike, working hard is just what you do," it says.

Election Day is Nov. 5, with early voting starting Oct. 8.

Contact IndyStar state government and politics reporter Kayla Dwyer at kdwyer@indystar.com or follow her on Twitter @kayla_dwyer17 .

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Governor candidates Jennifer McCormick, Mike Braun release first general election TV ads