FILE - U.S. Sen. Mike Braun, R-Ind., announces in Indianapolis, Monday, Dec. 12, 2022 that he will for Indiana governor in 2024. Braun will face Indiana Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch for the Republican nomination. An Indianapolis City-County Council member on Thursday, July 6, 2023, became the second announced Democrat to seek Indiana’s open U.S. Senate seat from outgoing Braun in the 2024 election. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy, File) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A southern Indiana egg farmer has declared his candidacy for the Republican nomination for the state's open U.S. Senate seat in 2024.

John Rust , the chair of Seymour-based Rose Acre Farms, announced his campaign Tuesday, saying he was a Christian, capitalist, conservative gay man who would bring an “outsider’s voice” to Washington, The Indianapolis Star reported.

“I just think my message is something that has to get out, and I think Republicans deserve a choice,” he said. “I know I’m gay, and I know that puts me in a box, but I’m absolutely not in that box. I’m an American first.”

Rust will face an uphill battle for the GOP nomination against U.S. Rep. Jim Banks, who already has been endorsed by the Washington-based anti-tax Club for Growth.

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Two Democrats have announced their candidacies for the seat: Former Indianapolis City-County Council member Keith Potts and Marc Carmichael, a state representative from Muncie in 1986-1991 and the longtime president and lobbyist for the Indiana Beverage Alliance, a group of beer distributors.

Republican Sen. Mike Braun is giving up the seat to run for Indiana governor.