(The Center Square) – Indiana U.S. Sen. Mike Braun claimed the Republican gubernatorial nomination Tuesday night, easily beating a field of five other candidates in the statewide primary election. The Associated Press called the race for the one-term senator at 7 p.m. eastern time, just as the polls closed in the state’s southwestern and northwestern counties. The Indiana Secretary of State’s office had yet to post results. Preliminary figures from Indiana Public Media showed Braun held a 38.5% to 21.5% lead over Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch with 69,646 votes, or 11% of the total, tallied at 7:03 p…