John Rust, former chairman of Rose Acre Farms, filed the paperwork to make his candidacy for a U.S. Senate seat official.
Fox59 reported that Rust officially filed on February 5 for election to represent Indiana in the U.S. Senate. The position is presently held by Sen. Mike Braun, R-Indiana, who has chosen not to seek re-election.
Rust, on his campaign Facebook page, stated that more than 17,000 Indiana voters signed a petition for his candidacy, and more than 11,000 were verified, clearing the way for him to file.
Rust, who is running as a Republican, first announced his intent to run for the office in August 2023. However, he had some difficulty in the process. A state statute requires that a candidate must have voted as a member of one particular party during the past two primary elections in order to become a candidate for that party. He hadn’t. Rust acknowledged to WFYI he had previously registered as a Democrat to give him the ability to vote for friends in a primary who were seeking the Democratic nomination, but said that he always identified as a Republican.
Rust later filed a lawsuit challenging his ineligibility to be an official candidate, and a judge ruled in favor of Rust in December 2023.
Rust will not be unopposed in the primary election, with U.S. Rep Jim Banks, R-Indiana, also seeking the Senate seat.
At the time Rust announced he was a candidate, he was the chairman of Rose Acre Farms. However, the company announced in late September 2023 that his Rust had completed his term and he would now focus on his campaign. His brother, Marcus Rust, was named Rose Acre Farms’ new chairman.
Rose Acre Farms is the second largest egg producer in the United States with a flock of 25.5 million hens.
