An Overview of the Republican Candidates for Indiana Secretary of State

Every two years, the respective political parties in the state of Indiana have a political convention where elected or appointed delegates select their candidates for statewide elected office.  This year, the Democrats and Republicans will be selecting candidates for the state’s Treasurer, Auditor, and Secretary of State.  Now, for the Republicans, the first two slots are running unopposed.  However, the Secretary of State race is facing a divided four way race that is getting particularly nasty.  To help ease some of the contention, this post is going to give a basic overview of each candidate with their strengths and weaknesses to help interested delegates make a more informed decision.

To start off with, it’s important to understand the stakes Republicans are facing when selecting their candidates as this will play a part in determining who the best candidate is for the job.  First of all, the Democrats selected Birch Evans “Beau” Bayh IV, son of former Indiana governor and US Senator Birch Evans “Evan” Bayh III and grandson of former state Speaker of the House and US Senator Birch Evans Bayh Jr.  Meanwhile, there is also an independent challenger who is gaining some attention as former Indianapolis Mayor, Greg Ballard, is running for Secretary of State as a member of the “Lincoln Party.”  Some polling does have him doing well so there is concern that he might be a spoiler for the GOP or possibly win.

Now, it’s worth stressing that both concerns are likely overrated.  Beau’s father was supposed to win his old senate seat back in 2016 and polled ahead throughout the entire race until the last week of the election and yet still lost by almost 10 points.  Considering that Democrats consistently polled ahead in the race for this seat and still lost back in 2022, it’s reasonable to assume that there isn’t as much enthusiasm for another Bayh.

Similarly, Greg Ballard hasn’t been in office since 2016 and the party has changed drastically since then.  At the time, he opposed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and made support for “rainbow” causes a feature of his administration.  Now, a majority of Republicans (nationally) no longer support gay marriage and not only want religious tolerance, but actively want religious values in governance.  So it is possible he could peel off some support from the Republican party in “socially liberal” areas, but keeping in mind that the most successful third party candidate in Indiana in the last 10 years ran to the right of the Republican candidate, it’s unlikely he will do more than that.  His connection to Indianapolis might be concerning since incumbent Diego Morales did struggle in the suburbs of Indy four years ago, but it’s not a guarantee at this time.

There’s also a libertarian candidate running in this race.  They don’t win.

So with the backdrop of the likely opposition to the Republican candidates, the next discussion will be my own biases.  I did publicly come out in favor of Diego due to my regular meetings with him at Republican events and friendship with members of his office.  However, a series of campaign missteps after my letter was originally submitted, such as getting into a public feud with State Treasurer Daniel Elliott, sending out a mailer claiming Banks had endorsed him after said endorsement was rescinded, and possible ties to a consulting firm that took money from China at a time when Indiana Republicans are trying to distance themselves from China, made me take a step back and say that I’ll wait until the final pitch at the convention before endorsing a candidate.  Nevertheless, I want to remain as objective and fair to all candidates as I believe that all four of them would do a good job in the position and would be happy to vote for any of them in November.

So, here is the overview for all four candidates to help the delegates make a decision:

• Diego Morales - Incumbent Secretary of State

• Strengths 

• He has already served in the position, thus he has incumbent advantage

• Is generally very popular in any room he’s in

• Purged the voter rolls of non-citizens

• Pushed to protect Hoosiers investment from ESG supporting firms

• Added new services to the office

• Already has plans to modernize his office if elected

• Weaknesses

• There are questions about his hiring practices such as hiring family members

• Somehow hiring a non-citizen that was on the voter rolls

• Questions over how he spends money for his office

• Overselling some of his accomplishments

• Various foreign trips he’s taken that have drawn scrutiny.  

• In Fairness - Some of the backlash has veered into overhate and borderline slander.  

• One journalist claimed that the FBI was going to arrest him over Guatemalan drug cartels, which turned out to be false.  

• The same publication also tried to scrutinize his wife after she was declared “Honorary Consul of Hungary,” asking questions like if she should register as a foreign agent when it seems to have limited notary function as opposed to having any real lobbying power

• There are similar nonexistent controversies that also just seem like mudslinging 

• This can make it hard to respect legitimate criticism towards him knowing how far some of his critics are willing to stoop to attack him.  In other words, it creates a “Boy Who Cried Wolf” problem.

• However, being a lightning rod for controversy isn’t a good look for a politician

• David Shelton - Knox County Clerk and Republican Party County Chairman

• Strengths

• Having served in the role for seven years now, he has plenty of experience in electoral affairs

• He even received clerk of the year three times during his tenure

• Runs companies that handle election infrastructure

• Has experience in fraud investigation

• Overseen the transition to vote centers multiple times

• Weaknesses

• There was controversy over donations his campaign received from former Senate candidate John Rust

• Rust ran for senate and was disqualified for voting in Democratic primaries 

• Rust also ran against Jim Banks who was Indiana’s most conservative congressmen and now one of America’s most conservative senators

• He reportedly has a history of voting in Democratic primaries himself

• Max Engling - Congressional Aide

• Strengths

• He has a strong platform

• Experience working in government offices

• Boasts of having private sector experience as well

• Excellent endorsements

• US Senator Jim Banks, whom he works for

• US Rep. Rudy Yakym

• US Rep. Jim Baird

• US Rep. Victoria Spartz

• US Rep. Erin Houchin

• State Treasurer Daniel Elliott

• Former Indiana Deputy Attorney General Andrew Ireland, who is serving as his campaign chairman

• Weaknesses

• He’s never been elected to office before 

• His most prominent campaign, a US House Race, had him coming in third, making him a bit of a novice on the campaign field as well as to the job

• Jamie Reitenour - Former Candidate for Governor

• Strengths - Very conservative platform and a dedication to the constitution

• Weaknesses - Ran for Governor two years ago and didn’t have much of an impact as she came in fifth, so it’s worth asking how serious a candidate she is

• Sidenote - She did beat former Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill in the primary which is an accomplishment since Hill won his first race with the most votes in state history

All these candidates have something to offer and definitely do the job as required.  It’s up to the delegates to pick the right candidate that will represent Hoosiers in Indy as well as keep our state's elections running smoothly (as no one wants to be California right now).  We’ll see what happens on June 20th, but all I can ask is: make sure you pick the right candidate

Addendum: I did reach out to the top three candidates about issues facing their campaign and some of my concerns.  Here is the response I got

• Diego Morales - I asked him about the Banks mailer he sent out and a clarification.  He has assured me that the mailer was approved before the endorsement was rescinded and it was too late to cancel.  He also said that his office has done nothing illegal and followed the law in all instances

• David Shelton - I asked him about John Rust and Indiana’s two primary vote candidate law.  He says that he has no personal affiliation with the man and that he took his donation like he would any other donor.  He also has no intention of supporting making it easier for Democrats to run in Republican primaries

• Max Engling - I asked him about perceived lack of experience.  He sent me the following (posted as received):

• I've listed out some of my experience, and I included a doc as well.

• worked for the chief elections committee in the US House of Representatives for 8 years

• successfully defeated Nancy Pelosi's federalization of elections

• senior staffer in the speaker's office

• filed a small business with the Secretary of State re agriculture education

• traveled the state for the last three years talking with Hoosiers about their needs and how to formulate effective policy solutions

• worked in several small businesses that registered with the SOS - HVAC Co office manager, summit construction building the community north hospital expansion, Becks Hybrids, and several others

• worked my way through an undergraduate at IUPUI and earned my masters from the Naval War College as a civilian in strategic planning

• I also ran for the 5th congressional district - unsuccessful, but placed 3 of 9 behind the incumbent and a state rep

The Old Republican Party is Dead

This past Tuesday, May 5th, Indiana held its primary elections.  Those who went to bed early woke up to find that Trump endorsed candidates had swept at the ballot box with five out of seven challengers beating incumbent state senators.  Outside of that, one state senator who voted against redistricting lost to a non-Trump backed candidate while a Trump backed candidate won a three way primary.  The President had a good night this week and one that will play a key role in shaping future policy in the state.

This marks a continued trend, though, of Trump backed candidates winning across the country as he has had a high success rate with his endorsement over the past decade.  After all, his candidates have won 90% of primaries and more than a majority in the general elections of both midterms and Presidential election years.  Sure, one could say this doesn’t matter as much since much of his domestic agenda has stalled in Congress and many of his backed candidates could have won anyway.  However, those points are irrelevant as Trump is reshaping the Republican party with his endorsed candidates getting elected, which means the party will be the vehicle for his platform going forward long after he’s out of the White House while the old party fades away.

Now Trump’s not purely the reason that a lot of incumbents are finding themselves facing early retirement.  The truth is that most of them are just old and out of touch with where the times are.  Several of them were in politics for decades and times have changed.  Finding themselves out of touch, it was only a matter of time before they found themselves either leaving gracefully or being pulled out of their offices.

Indiana is a reflection of that better than any state as most of the redistricting opponents have been there for decades.  Both Sens. Jim Buck and Greg Walker originally intended to retire this year, which probably made sense since the latter was in the state senate for about two decades and the former was in the state legislature for three.  Sen. Travis Holdman, who claimed his district opposed redistricting efforts, has been a state senator since 2008 and was also removed.  Meanwhile, the only two non-redistricting senators that survived the primary, Sens. Greg Goode and Spencer Deery, only became senators within the last five years.  So a lot of the election was a replacement of the old guard.

That’s generally happening across the U.S. political spectrum as a whole.  Various Trump critics/opponents that had positions in the GOP like Robert Mueller, Dick Cheney, and John McCain have all passed away.  Others, like Mitt Romney, John Boehner, and John Kasich have all retired.  In reality, a lot of Trump critics were the ones from the yesteryears of either the Bush or Clinton administrations, and they’re finding themselves removed because they’re simply too old.  So a lot of what’s happening under Trump is just the natural transition of the old guard leaving.

Unfortunately for NeverTrumpers, the fact that incumbents are leaving or being aged out doesn’t mean that this isn’t beneficial to the President.  Far from it as he is the one replacing them.  As mentioned earlier, many of his candidates are winning primaries, and, even if they don’t win the general election, having so many successful candidates win nominations means that the party will be taken over by people open to the President’s agenda.

After all, elections have consequences and they can cause ripple effects.  In Indiana, there’s already calls to replace the Senate Pro Tempore from his position.  Also, new discussions on redistricting once he’s gone are coming up, which means Trump could get his new districts in the state of Indiana.  Unsurprisingly, the states of Florida, Tennessee, and more seem to have gotten the message and are now approving new districts.  We’ll see if they survive potential court challenges, but this will set precedents for redistricting that will outlast the President.  So his influence will be far reaching because it will set a precedent for future politicians or legal precedent for rejecting such legislation.

That is reflected in the makeup of the national party as well.  Already, the future candidates for President and thus leadership of the party include members of his administration like Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President JD Vance so the 2028 nominee will likely be a continuation of the Trump era.  Their candidacies are also worth noting because many former critics of his administration like them and Lindsey Graham are now strong supporters of his Presidency.  Meanwhile, former supporters like Marjorie Taylor Greene and Joe Kent that have turned hardcore critics are no longer in office anymore and can only complain about him to the media and on podcasts.  Also, certain politicians like Sen. Rand Paul and Congressman Thomas Massie are still in office (at the time of writing this post), but they’re simply individuals that don’t seem to be influencing future nominees for office (yet).  So in the long run, it looks like Trump is going to influence the party for a while as his candidates win.

So, now that Donald Trump is taking over the Republican party, what does that mean for the future of the average voter?  Will the Republican become the shining example of patriotic nationalism dedicated to bringing about an almost religious love of the United States?  Will many NeverTrumpers make peace with the Democrats and mount a counter offensive, relegating the Republican party to a junior party nationally?

Well, that’s a question for another day, but some of the implications might be discussed in a future blogpost.