There's no escaping the screeching, negative ads for Indiana's pivotal U.S. Senate race.

More Senate-focused ads have aired on TV in Indiana than in any other state, as of Oct. 30.

Democratic Sen. Joe Donnelly, Republican candidate Mike Braun, both major political parties and numerous PACs have spent at least $56.8 million airing almost 133,000 political ads for or against Senate candidates since the start of 2017, according to the Wesleyan Media Project.

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Democrats are fighting to protect Donnelly, widely considered one of the most vulnerable lawmakers in the Senate, as Republicans push to increase their majority in Tuesday's election.

While almost any Hoosier could confirm that Senate ads have dominated the airwaves, it's more difficult to tell how truthful any of the ads are.

IndyStar fact checked some common claims in the anti-Donnelly and anti-Braun ads.

Attacks against Braun

Claim: Braun charges his workers $10,000 in out-of-pocket deductibles for healthcare.

From: Senate Majority PAC ad.

The facts: Braun's family plan has a $10,000 deductible. The individual employee plan has a $5,000 deductible. However, Braun's plan has low premiums compared to the national average, and it fully covers preventive care such as annual physicals and immunizations, IndyStar research shows.

Claim: Braun wants deep cuts to Medicare and Social Security.

From: Senate Majority PAC ad.

The facts: This claim seems to refer to a Feb. 20 primary election debate in which Braun and fellow Republican candidates Luke Messer and Todd Rokita were asked about spending cuts. Braun said he'd favor an across-the-board freeze while the two congressmen said spending is being driven by Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.

Since then, based on Braun's across-the-board strategy, Democratic operatives have been saying all three candidates support cuts to the entitlement programs. Braun, however, told AARP that he wants to preserve and insure Social Security and Medicare are "there for people that have paid into it but make even tougher decisions — what does this look like for future generations?" He said one of the key solutions, especially for Medicare, was to lower health care costs

Claim: Braun ships jobs to China.

From: Joe Donnelly for Indiana ad.

The facts: Braun’s auto parts brand Promaxx Automotive sells products manufactured in China, the Associated Press reported in August.

The news service said it purchased a variety of Promaxx products that said “Made in China.” Plus, Braun’s auto parts distribution company Meyer Distributing sells other companies’ products that are made overseas.

Braun's campaign wouldn’t say how much of Braun’s auto parts company’s products come from outside the U.S.

Claim: Braun supports tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas.

From: Senate Majority PAC ad.

The facts: As a state legislator, Braun voted in 2016 against bipartisan “clawback” legislation that would have allowed Indiana governments to recoup financial incentives given to companies that move jobs abroad, according to the Associated Press.

Braun also has said he supported the GOP federal tax reform package, which some critics warned could lead to more outsourcing of jobs.

The New York Times reported that under the new law, income made overseas will be taxed at a lower rate than income made in the U.S. Companies will also not have to pay taxes on money earned overseas if that money is less than 10 percent of the total investment.

But before the tax change, most companies just kept their money abroad to avoid having to pay the standard tax rate. So the change might not have a significant impact on outsourcing.

Claim: Braun's trucking company risked employees' lives by forcing employees to drive more hours than the law allowed.

From: Senate Majority PAC ad.

The facts:An Associated Press report shows that workers sued Braun’s company in West Virginia, Oklahoma and California, “alleging they were forced to work long hours in unsafe conditions and denied overtime pay, meal times and breaks.” The same story reports Meyer Distributing was cited 41 times for allowing truck drivers to violate the maximum amount of time they were permitted to drive.

Attacks against Donnelly

Claim: Joe Donnelly says he's in the middle, but he's not. He votes with Chuck Schumer, endorsed Hillary Clinton and stands with the extreme left 80 percent of the time.

From: Mike Braun for Indiana ad.

The facts: Donnelly was ranked the fourth-most bipartisan senator to serve over the past two decades and the Democrat most willing to work across party lines, according to an analysis by the Lugar Center.

The specific examples Braun ticks off, though, do contain truth, IndyStar research shows. Donnelly did vote the same as Schumer 85 percent of the time from 2013 to 2017, according to Congressional Quarterly. He also backed Hillary Clinton for president. The Human Rights Campaign, which advocates for LGBTQ equality, lists the senator as voting with them 80 percent of the time.

Claim: Donnelly misses one in five committee hearings.

From: National Republican Senatorial Committee ad

The facts: Donnelly attended 95 percent of committee hearings, according to an analysis by Factcheck.org, which concluded the advertisement relied on incomplete and incorrect data.

Claim: 'Sleepin’ Joe' was named least effective Democrat in the senate.

From: National Republican Senatorial Committee ad

The facts: The nonpartisan Center for Effective Lawmaking found Joe Donnelly’s “legislative effectiveness score” to be the lowest of the 44 Senate Democrats rated in 2015-2016. However, the center just looks at bills lawmakers introduced, how substantive they were and how far they made it through the legislative process.

Even the center urges people to not depend solely on their analysis. Their scoring doesn't take into account bills for which Donnelly was the lead co-sponsor or measures he initiated that become law after being added onto another bill. Using those criteria, 50 of Donnelly's legislative proposals have become law, IndyStar research shows.

More on Donnelly's effectiveness

Claim: Joe Donnelly stood with the radical left in Washington on open borders and taxpayer funded benefits

From: National Republican Senatorial committee ad

The facts: The speech featured in the ad is from an Indianapolis International Airport address where Donnelly spoke out against Trump’s January 2017 executive order banning people from mostly-Muslim countries from entering the United States. While GOP leaders did support the executive order, some Republicans did not, including Republican Sen. John McCain. The ad featured a portion of Donnelly’s speech where he was paraphrasing McCain and Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham.

In other cases, Donnelly has broken with his party on immigration policy. For example, he’s voted three times to fund President Donald Trump’s border wall and has voted to take away funding for sanctuary cities.

In 2010 he also voted with Republicans in opposing legislation that would have allowed illegal immigrants who grew up in the United States to earn legal status through college or the military.

However, he also has criticized the Trump administration’s decision to phase out the Obama administration program that protected those immigrants from deportation, IndyStar reporting shows.

Claim: Donnelly’s own family business got caught outsourcing jobs to Mexico.

From: Senate Leadership Fund ad.

The facts: Donnelly’s brother owns an arts and crafts company called Stewart Superior Corp. that ran a manufacturing plant in Mexico since 2011, the Associated Press reported in July 2017. While Donnelly hadn’t served the company in any official capacity since the mid-2000s, he did own company stock, earning between $15,001 and $50,000 in dividends on it in 2016 alone.

After the Associated Press report was released, Donnelly sold his stock.

Call IndyStar reporter Kaitlin Lange at 317-432-9270. Follow her on Twitter: @kaitlin_lange.

Call IndyStar reporter Chris Sikich at 317-444-6036. Follow him on Twitter: @ChrisSikich and at facebook.com/chris.sikich.