When Diego Morales first ran for secretary of state at the 2022 Indiana Republican Party state convention, he took advantage of the populist wing fighting against the establishment of former Gov. Eric Holcomb.
He was elected despite sexual assault allegations, revelations that he was fired from his previous job in the secretary of state’s office, questions about his military service record and more.
That’s not surprising. Populists in both political parties frequently overlook character flaws in candidates when it suits their policy agendas. Those character flaws, though, often lead politicians to act against the interests of conservatives and the working class unless they have an election to win.
Morales mirrors Trump
President Donald Trump is a good comparison to Morales.
Twenty-eight women have accused Trump of sexual misconduct since the 1970s. One has proved it in civil court. He’s the only president to be divorced twice. He has a history of affairs, accusations of fraudulent business dealings and more. This was all well known by the time he was elected.
All of that played into his persona as a man of the people who would “drain the swamp” of the elites in Washington, D.C., and the Republican Party that looked down on the common man. His aggressive and assertive style of politics made people believe he could not be bought and might actually succeed at implementing a working-class agenda.
During his second term, he appeared to flip on many issues. Instead of ending wars, he’s starting them. Instead of fighting inflation, he “loves” it. He flip-flops on immigration policy. He removed traditional values from the GOP platform. He is defending the Biden administration’s policies on the abortion pill in court, and siding with Big Tech on myriad issues.
He doesn’t have to win another election. His desire to project dominance and his transactional and impulse-driven approach to relationships do not have to be tempered by electability concerns. He’s the undisputed kingmaker and has no one in the party to hold him accountable.
Morales had no check on his bad behavior
Morales found himself in a similar position over the last four years. Indiana is a supermajority Republican state. Until this last primary cycle, incumbents had zero reason to be concerned about electability.
Before Max Engling entered the convention race and received the endorsement of several party leaders, I predicted Morales would get renominated because he likely had the best chance of winning the general election of any Republican candidate. Demographics and fundraising worked in his favor. That gave him carte blanche to utilize his office how he saw fit while undermining the conservative populism that got him elected to it.
Morales purchased a $90,000 SUV on the taxpayers’ dime. He awarded millions of dollars in no-bid contracts to large campaign donors and hired family members.
Morales traveled with Hamilton County GOP Treasurer Raju Chinthala to India on an economic development mission. Chinthala had a contract with Morales’ office to “investigate and coordinate international business promotion engagements and initiatives,” and he used the trip to promote his private business interests and an immigrant visa program.
“When I pressed him (Morales) about it, he told me he went there to attract Indian investment,” Wells County Councilor Brandon Harnish told me.
Harnish is a Republican delegate who has a vote in the party’s June 20 secretary of state nomination. He was concerned about “ethnic patronage,” or the practice of primarily hiring employees who are of the same ethnicity, and about “chameleon carrier” trucking companies avoiding accountability for putting untrained drivers on Indiana roads. Chameleon carriers are trucking companies that re-register under new names to evade regulations.
“We know for a fact there are hundreds of suspicious trucking companies registered to homes in central Indiana subdivisions,” Harnish told me. “We know they lean on the visa system, which drives down domestic wages.”
Morales also accused those who criticized him for hiring a non-citizen — singling out state Treasurer Daniel Elliott — of prejudice at a Bartholomew County GOP breakfast May 23.
That non-citizen, Elina Kupce, was hired for a chief of staff role. Elliott claimed she was “in the country illegally” at some point. Morales countered that she was legally authorized to work for him, accusing Elliott of taking a “cheap shot” and “deliberately misleading Hoosiers” in a text to Republican delegates.
A chief of staff role is important and typically goes to highly qualified applicants. Indiana Senate Chief of Staff Jeff Papa, for example, is the editor-in-chief of Mensa Research Journal, a former Zionsville mayor and has both a J.D. and a Ph.D.
Kupce, on the other hand, does not have nearly as much education, does not seem to have had any prior government experience and her position does not seem to have been publicly posted.
A lot of Republicans have legitimate concerns about Kupce’s hire. Impugning their character delegitimizes the America-first and Indiana-first philosophy that characterizes conservative populism in this state. It also opens the door for other Republican officials to do the same.
“I think that some of the attacks that he’s received would not have been received if he were the prototypical white male from Indiana, but he’s a short Hispanic from Guatemala that has a thick accent,” Hamilton County GOP Chair Mario Massillamany said in an interview with Larry Lannan of Fishers.
Morales’ bad behavior has its limits
If nominated, Morales would face an unusually competitive general election. The Indiana Democratic Party nominated Beau Bayh, a well-connected, electable young man, to face him. Former Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard’s independent campaign threatens to pull away Republicans who might not be willing to stomach voting for a Democrat.
I still think Morales probably could have pulled it off. Ballard and Bayh are close enough in their moderate presentation that they could pull more votes away from each other than from Morales.
That said, regardless of whether Morales or Engling is nominated, Sen. Jim Banks — who backed Engling — will have succeeded in holding elected officials in the Republican Party accountable. By endorsing Engling, he provided a legitimate outlet for frustration with Morales while ultimately leaving the outcome in the hands of delegates.
Unlike other alternatives to Morales, Engling’s connections give him a strong chance of winning the general election.
Morales once held the establishment under Gov. Eric Holcomb accountable. His baggage came with him. He was not vetted by those in power beforehand. Delegates had no other legitimate alternatives to the establishment pick.
The fear of strong intra-party accountability will serve as a check on Morales’ behavior even if he somehow wins the nomination.
Contact Jacob Stewart at 317-444-4683 or jacob.stewart@indystar.com. Follow him on X, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Diego Morales spent four years acting like he couldn’t lose | Opinion
Reporting by Jacob Stewart, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Jacob Stewart, Indianapolis Star | USA TODAY Network
