COLUMBIA CITY — State Sen. Jim Banks, R-Columbia City, said he will make a special announcement Tuesday at noon at Allen County Republican Headquarters.
Banks is expected to announce he will run for the 3rd District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in the May 2016 Republican primary election.
U.S. Rep. Marlin Stutzman currently holds the 3rd District seat. Stutzman declared Saturday that he will run for the U.S. Senate in the 2016 primary.
Banks would become the first publicly announced candidate to replaced Stutzman in the 3rd District seat in Congress.
Banks, 35, was first elected to the Indiana Senate in 2010. He works as a commercial real estate broker. A graduate of Indiana University, he also holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Grace College.
He and his wife, Amanda, and their three daughters reside in Columbia City.
As an officer in the U.S. Navy Reserve, Banks recently returned from an eight-month tour of duty in Afghanistan. His wife replaced him in the Indiana Senate during his military service.
Before his election to the state Senate, Banks served as a member of the Whitley County Council from 2009-2010.
Last year, the American Conservative Union recognized him as one of its Top Conservatives Under 40.