INDIANAPOLIS — With state political convention season upon us, Indiana Republicans and Democrats are working through identity crises.
Influential Republicans began pulling the plug on Secretary of State Diego Morales, who is not only battling allegations of corruption but also failed to win his own race for delegate to the GOP state convention June 20 in Fort Wayne. Meanwhile, progressive Democrats are attempting to rally around Blythe Potter in her race against heavily favored Beau Bayh, which will play out at the party’s state convention June 6 in Indianapolis.
On March 4, U.S. Sen. Jim Banks — Indiana’s current self-anointed GOP kingmaker — endorsed Morales, saying in a statement, “Diego Morales has been focused for four years on making our elections in Indiana safe and secure. He understands that protecting our elections by stopping illegal immigrants from voting is fundamental to our country. He is conservative, supports President Trump and is a tireless advocate for Hoosier values.
“He has my full support and endorsement,” Banks concluded.
On Thursday, Banks and Attorney General Todd Rokita (who issued a similar glowing endorsement) essentially issued a “Saturday Night Live” Emily Litella “never mind.” He released a statement endorsing a member of his staff, unsuccessful congressional candidate Max Engling.
Who?
“Max Engling is a key member of my team and will make a great Secretary of State,” Banks said. “He has my full and total support.”
The ensuing hours brought a barrage of statements from the GOP congressional and legislative delegations as well as Statehouse officials who followed Banks in urging Morales to leave the race and, in Treasurer Daniel Elliott’s words, “resign immediately.”
Rokita, who won a four-way convention battle for secretary of state in 2002, added, “I have spoken with Diego. The secretary of state’s office is too important to be lost to out-of-touch, left-wing Democrats who put Hoosiers last. To that end, I have asked Diego to suspend his campaign. With so many self-inflicted wounds and issues, I now do not believe he can win in November.”
What changed?
I suspect it was internal polling that shows Morales losing to Bayh, as well as independent candidate Greg Ballard making inroads into the incumbent’s support. This comes in tandem with President Donald J. Trump’s approval ratings collapsing.
Asked about skyrocketing gas prices, Trump said, “I don’t think about Americans’ financial situation.”
Banks and Rokita are now panicked kingmakers, despite the results of the May 5 primary, where MAGA voters ousted five Indiana Senate incumbents.
What they will be facing in the months leading up to the Nov. 3 general election is angry independent voters.
A recent New York Times/Siena poll revealed a gargantuan 11% lead for Democrats in the congressional generic, an indicator of a tsunami coming in November. Among independent voters, 69% disapprove of Trump’s job performance; 72% believe the Iran war was the wrong decision.
They’re seeking to jettison Morales because he is … them. Morales is revealing the true low character and lack of scruples of the Trumpified modern Indiana Republican Party. It is self-serving, unethical, zero-sum political partisans versus public servants solving public problems.
Morales was defiant. “Delegates will decide who will be the Republican nominee for Indiana secretary of state. The decision belongs in the hands and only the hands of Republican convention delegates, and I’m confident I’ll be renominated.”
Morales defeated appointed Secretary of State Holli Sullivan in a 847-561 vote on the second ballot of the 2022 convention. He now faces Engling, Knox County Clerk David Shelton and obscure 2024 gubernatorial candidate Jamie Reitenour.
As for Democrats, Bayh has raised more than $2 million and racked up several labor endorsements. He faces Potter, an Army veteran and Bargersville esthetician, who voted in the 2008 Republican primary. Since 2020, she has voted in five Democratic primaries, according to the Johnson County clerk.
Potter has been critical of Bayh for accepting checks from billionaires and out-of-state donors. The Bayh campaign counters that 90% of the $2.4 million he has raised came from donations of $100 or less, with 85% of contributions coming from Hoosiers.
Potter’s campaign has been funded to the tune of $210,000 from entrepreneur Kathleen L. Pettijohn of Elberfeld. Pettijohn’s latest donation — $100,000 on April 1 — came a day after quarterly finance reports were due.
Her campaign features flashy videos and a commitment to visit all 92 Indiana counties. But the fiction driving Potter and her progressive backers is that a Democrat can win a statewide general election race with little name recognition and a minuscule bank account.
Potter reacted to the hemorrhaging Morales support in a statement posted on social media: “Diego Morales is a symptom of a larger problem: A state political system that serves the wealthy and well connected insiders in Indianapolis and ignores the needs of Hoosiers.”
Bayh campaign manager Jack Tormoehlen reacted to the Morales developments, saying in a statement, “The corruption and insider dealing in Diego Morales’s Secretary of State office has been going on for years. And yet, it wasn’t the luxury SUVs he’s purchased, or the international trips paid by unknown sources, or even the no-bid contracts for donors that finally earned him an opponent ― it’s a bunch of insiders realizing that Morales would probably lose to Beau Bayh in November.”
Brian A. Howey is an opinion columnist for State Affairs Indiana and the founder of Howey Politics Indiana. His writing offers analysis and opinion shaped by decades of experience covering Indiana politics. Email him at howey@stateaffairs.com.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Hoosier GOP, Dems, working through identity crises | Opinion
Reporting by Brian Howey, Columnist / South Bend Tribune
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