After Secretary of State Diego Morales suffered an embarrassing defeat at the Indiana Republican Party state convention on June 20, someone sent a text thanking me for getting rid of him.
I was quick to accept. After all, I had spent the better part of four years raising red flags about Indiana’s highly unethical secretary of state. From a mysterious trip to India funded by an unknown individual, to massive no-bid contracts to campaign megadonors, to the alleged use of state resources to film a campaign commercial, the brazen corruption of Morales knew no bounds.
Then, after a quick victory lap, I realized I did not get rid of Morales. After years of begging and pleading with Republicans to do something about Morales, he was not only still in the office, but likely headed toward re-nomination as of May.
Greg Ballard’s entry caused Republicans to finally act
Something changed. The answer was the surging campaign of former Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard.
Ballard announced his attempt to secure a spot on the ballot as an independent candidate in March. Republicans initially laughed off his longshot candidacy, given the requirement to obtain nearly 37,000 verified signatures for ballot access. Then they watched Ballard’s impressive campaign finance report and operation take hold. It became abundantly clear Ballard was here to stay.
Ultimately, the unified abandonment of Morales by the Republican power structure, including Attorney General Todd Rokita, U.S. Sen. Jim Banks, state Treasurer Daniel Elliott and U.S. Rep. Victoria Spartz, led to his demise.
While many of these people would have you believe it was the exposure of a non-citizen being elevated to a chief-of-staff role that caused them to turn on Morales, the reason had nothing to do with the latest scandal. After all, Rokita appeared to acknowledge multiple scandals when asked about pulling his support. Why was this one different?
The reason Republicans dumped Morales was because it became obvious he was going to lose the general election. Democratic nominee Beau Bayh is shaping up to be a formidable opponent.
Ballard changed everything. A lot of Republicans who did not like Morales remained in the “I’ll never vote for a Democrat” club. They would vote red no matter what. The former Republican mayor gave disgusted Republicans an out. A safe harbor. He represented an opportunity for those people to express their dissatisfaction with not only Morales, but a party that willfully refused to attempt to stop him. People could easily vote for Ballard.
That math was scary. I wrote last month there was a very real world in which Bayh could end up winning the election with less than 45% of the vote.
Ballard’s success could hobble Republicans for years
Ballard also represents something more frightening: A third party with primary ballot access the next four years. In Indiana, any political party (including Ballard’s new Lincoln Party) that gets 10% in the secretary of state’s race gets primary ballot access.
Currently, only Republicans and Democrats have access. Libertarians gained general election ballot access after acquiring the required 2%. Primary ballot access, though, means millions of dollars annually in taxpayer-subsidized advertising. That is the exact shot in the arm a new party would need to be competitive in races up and down the ballot.
“People are telling us on the back end of this, this is an easy signature to get,” Ballard told me June 23 on my Rob Kendall Show podcast, where he announced the campaign had acquired more than 64,000. “I’m not doing this just for myself. I’m doing this for the people of Indiana.”
Ballard’s campaign could prove massively successful even if he is not victorious. Anything over 10% by Ballard would give his new party complete legitimacy in every race across Indiana and could lead to Bayh taking the office from Republicans.
Bayh serves as a massive risk to the GOP because of his pledge to produce an independent audit of the last four years. That audit could not only expose Morales on a host of issues, both known and unknown, but also Republican politicians and donors.
Republicans turn to unvetted Max Engling in panic
Replacing Morales put Republicans in a pickle. They needed a candidate who could both win and be counted on to not expose the dirty deeds of Morales. Highly qualified Knox County Clerk David Shelton was already Morales’ opponent. In my interview with Ballard, he indicated the quiet, competent Shelton would have posed the most problems for his campaign.
The same was likely true for Bayh. Shelton had taken an independent streak throughout his campaign and had committed to getting to the bottom of what went on. He was deemed uncontrollable and thus unacceptable.
Instead, the GOP turned to Banks staffer Max Engling. Before working for Banks, Engling had served under former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in Washington.
Engling’s only experience as a candidate did not go well. He finished a distant third in a 2024 run for Congress in Indiana’s 5th Congressional District, losing easily to Spartz. In a bit of irony, this year he also failed to qualify as a delegate for the very convention at which he would later become Republicans’ secretary of state nominee.
The vetting of Engling was essentially nonexistent prior to his entry into the race. Shortly before the convention, Engling told IndyStar’s Jacob Stewart that in 2007 he was charged with criminal mischief for throwing eggs off an overpass in Hamilton County.
Engling admitted to the act, though the criminal charges were later dropped after he paid for damages. A consultant with ties to Morales also claimed in a mass text to delegates that “identifiers tied to Engling” appeared to be associated with “adult hookup platforms.” Those allegations have not been substantiated.
When I asked Elliott, an Engling supporter, on my show if he knew about the criminal charges, he admitted he did not.
“I will just say this. When I was a young man I ran faster,” Elliott said in Engling’s defense. “Not everyone knows everything about everyone.”
That’s not exactly a ringing endorsement for the scrutiny behind the pick from one of our state’s top officials.
It is clear the Republican power structure was in a panic. They had to find someone they thought could beat Bayh, but also who could be counted on to not expose Morales’ dirt. Engling’s reliability with McCarthy and Banks made him feel safe. The vetting was limited, if it existed at all.
Morales will be gone from Indiana government in six months. That is a good thing. But there is a huge difference between being gone and being held accountable. Republicans want Morales out of their lives. They do not want the truth revealed.
Today, we celebrate the victory that was Morales’ defeat. Ballard’s entry into the race made Republicans dump Morales. That is already an incredible service to our state. For that, we all owe him a giant thanks.
Rob Kendall is the host of the Rob Kendall Show, which airs weekdays 9 a.m. to noon live on YouTube and is then available on-demand on most major podcast platforms.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Greg Ballard forced Republicans to clean house | Opinion
Reporting by Rob Kendall, Opinion Contributor / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Rob Kendall, Opinion Contributor | USA TODAY Network
