The Latest: Businessman Braun Wins Indiana GOP Senate Race

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The Latest on Indiana's primary election (all times local):

7: 45 p.m.

A former congressional staffer has won the Democratic nomination to challenge first-term Republican Rep. Trey Hollingsworth for a southern Indiana congressional seat.

Liz Watson defeated civil rights lawyer Dan Canon and another candidate in Tuesday's primary for the 9th District nomination.

The 43-year-old Watson lives in Bloomington and is an attorney who has taught at Indiana University. She had the backing of several labor unions and a Bernie Sanders-affiliated group, even though she and Canon backed similar positions on a higher minimum wage, increased paid family leave and a single-payer health care system.

Hollingsworth and his father spent more than $3.5 million of their own money during the 2016 campaign. The district stretches from the Ohio River near Louisville, Kentucky, to the Bloomington area and the southern Indianapolis suburbs.

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7:20 p.m.

Greg Pence has won the Republican primary for an Indiana congressional seat his younger brother, Vice President Mike Pence, once held for a dozen years.

He defeated four others Tuesday in the 6th District race, including Muncie businessman Jonathan Lamb. He'd argued that Greg Pence merely relied on his prominent name and dodged debates.

Pence raised nearly $1.2 million for his campaign thanks largely to the support of his brother, pro-Trump groups and top Republicans. Lamb has loaned himself $800,000.

Pence is a Marine veteran and owner of two antique malls who once ran the now-bankrupt chain of Tobacco Road convenience stores.

He'll be the favorite to win in November for the seat left open after Republican Rep. Luke Messer decided to give it up to run for Senate.

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7 p.m.

Polls have closed across Indiana as voters finished casting ballots in the state's bitter three-way primary for the Republican U.S. Senate nomination.

Congressmen Todd Rokita and Luke Messer and wealthy businessman Mike Braun spent months attacking each other ahead of Tuesday's primary for the chance to face Democratic U.S. Sen. Joe Donnelly in the fall election.

Republican voter Dennis Shea said outside a downtown Indianapolis voting site that he supported Messer, but wished the campaign hadn't been so nasty.

The three GOP Senate candidates focused their appeals on Donald Trump voters, adopting the president's harsh immigration rhetoric and even channeling him by assigning one another derisive nicknames.

Another top race has Greg Pence, brother of Vice President Mike Pence, among five Republicans seeking an open seat in one U.S. House race.

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4 p.m.

Paul Crutcher, a 54-year-old maintenance mechanic in Indianapolis, said he voted for businessman Mike Braun in the hotly-contested Republican primary for U.S. Senate because he hoped that Braun would work to advance Trump's agenda.

Crutcher says of Braun, who ran as an outsider: "I just think that he's going to do what he says he's going to do, hopefully."

Crutcher said he didn't pay much attention to the three candidates' name-calling during the campaign. He says: "It just seems like the Republican candidates just want to jump on Trump's coattails."

U.S. House members Todd Rokita and Luke Messer also are running for the nomination to take on incumbent Democratic Sen. Joe Donnelly.

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1 p.m.

Indiana voter Chris Thurston says he chose Rep. Luke Messer in the Republican U.S. Senate primary because he wants someone who will be an independent thinker.

All three candidates in the hotly-contested race tried to paint themselves as being strong supporters of President Donald Trump. Rep. Todd Rokita even carried a cardboard cutout photo of Trump around with him to illustrate the point. Businessman Mike Braun also tied himself closely to Trump.

Thurston says: "Just because the president says to do something isn't necessarily why it needs to be done."

Thurston, a 39-year-old insurance adjuster from Indianapolis, says he thinks Messer has the best chance to defeat incumbent Democratic Sen. Joe Donnelly in November. Donnelly is one of the most vulnerable Senate incumbents in the country.

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9:05 a.m.

Indiana voters are casting ballots in a three-way race for the Republican U.S. Senate seat nomination. The winner will face Democratic U.S. Sen. Joe Donnelly.

Two sitting congressmen — Todd Rokita and Luke Messer — and former state lawmaker Mike Braun are on the ballot. Indianapolis resident Dorothy Frazee said Tuesday morning that she chose Rokita because she felt he was the best candidate to support and advance President Donald Trump's agenda. The 63-year-old said she had followed the candidates' efforts to link themselves to President Trump and said Rokita's indications that he supports the president helped sway her vote for him "a lot."

Fishers resident Errol Spears said he voted for Mike Braun in part because of Braun's business background and also because he preferred the tone of his campaign. Spears said that the three candidates' efforts to link themselves to President Trump did not impact his vote.

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6:10 a.m.

Polls are open in most of Indiana for an election that will mark an end to a nasty U.S. Senate primary.

Three Republicans are vying Tuesday for a chance to unseat what many consider a vulnerable Democratic incumbent in U.S. Sen. Joe Donnelly this fall.

Democrats, meanwhile, have shown reinvigorated signs of life and hope that energy will translate into a liberal "blue wave" in November that will help them retake two congressional districts where they've lost control in recent years.

Republicans in the conservative state are trying to continue their dominance in the Legislature and in congressional races. Greg Pence, brother of Vice President Mike Pence, is the front runner among five Republicans for an open seat in one U.S. House race.

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12:30 a.m.

Republican voters in Indiana are picking a Senate nominee in a race that has been dominated by personal attacks and animosity.

Two sitting congressmen — Todd Rokita and Luke Messer — and former state lawmaker Mike Braun are on the ballot Tuesday. They're competing for a chance to unseat Democratic Sen. Joe Donnelly.

With little daylight on key conservative issues to separate the candidates, stylistic preferences seem likely to decide the race.

They've tried to appeal to Donald Trump voters, adopting the president's harsh immigration rhetoric and even channeling him by assigning one another derisive nicknames.

The primary also features spirited congressional campaigns in the 2nd and 9th Districts. There also are GOP races for the seats Rokita and Messer are vacating, including one featuring Mike Pence's brother, Greg Pence.