Indiana’s race for Secretary of State became more competitive over the weekend as Republican delegates rejected Secretary of State Diego Morales and selected Max Engling to face potentially three other candidates.
Indiana Republicans selected Engling, a staffer for U.S. Sen. Jim Banks, on Saturday as their secretary of state candidate. During the state Republican convention, Engling won the nomination on the second ballot, finishing ahead of Knox County Clerk David Shelton as Morales came in a distant third, the Indiana Capital Chronicle reported.
Engling received 867 votes to secure the nomination with 53% of the delegates. Shelton followed with 627 votes and Morales 134. Conservative activist Jaime Reitenour was eliminated in the first round of voting, the Indiana Capital Chronicle reported.
In November, Engling will face Democrat Beau Bayh, Libertarian Lauri Shillings and a likely independent bid by former Republican Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard, the Indiana Capital Chronicle reported.
Lake County Republican Party Chairman Randy Niemeyer said he attended the Republican convention and made the nominating speech for Shelton. But, Niemeyer said he supports Engling and will help him with his race in Lake County.
“I’m a person that believes in rallying around our nominee,” Niemeyer said. “We’re going to help him assemble his ground game here.”
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Niemeyer said “it was obvious” that Morales had “a lot of issues” that were raised by many people.
“He struggled the last couple years, so I wasn’t surprised that the delegates wanted someone with a cleaner record,” Niemeyer said.
Porter County Republican Party Chairman Nate Uldricks, who also attended the convention, said Engling is a “really sharp” candidate with experience and backing from Banks. Uldricks said “it’s always a big deal” when an incumbent candidate doesn’t win, but the delegates had a strong slate of candidates.
“I felt that the delegates felt there were good alternatives,” Uldricks said.
Elizabeth Bennion, Chancellor’s Professor of Political Science at Indiana University South Bend, with the four candidates the secretary of state’s race has become more competitive, but the Republican nominee remains the favorite to win.
“A rejected incumbent, a Republican newcomer backed by many of the state’s top GOP leaders, a Democrat with one of Indiana’s most recognizable political surnames, a former Libertarian gubernatorial candidate, and a potential independent candidacy by Ballard combine to make this one of Indiana’s most interesting races of 2026,” Bennion said.
Engling, 39, has been central Indiana regional director and adviser Banks since early last year. He entered the race last month as Banks and Attorney General Todd Rokita withdrew their endorsements of Morales.
The political split came with Rokita saying Morales could lose the fall election after “many self-inflicted wounds,” the Indiana Capital Chronicle reported.
Morales’ loss followed numerous controversies about office spending and travel since he won office in 2022. He scored an upset at the 2022 convention when he defeated incumbent Holli Sullivan for the nomination, but he received a tepid applause from the delegates as he spoke before voting began Saturday, the Indiana Capital Chronicle reported.
Morales tried to rally support by telling delegates “the establishment never wants you to have a choice,” the Indiana Capital Chronicle reported.
“Now comes the biggest heist of all, top Republicans who publicly embraced me, suddenly stabbed me in the back and tried to take over this convention,” Morales said.
Bennion said Morales’ loss “was a clear repudiation of his leadership by Republicans.”
“This was a decisive defeat at the convention,” Bennion said. “This suggests that Republicans had an eye on the November election and were wanting to run a candidate who did not have some of the scandals or baggage that Morales might bring into that race.”
While Engling doesn’t have name recognition statewide, he has strong backing by Banks and Rokita, Bennion said, and their endorsements will help him gain visibility.
Ballard’s potential candidacy could pull some Republicans and independents into his camp, Bennion said, which could be a concern for Engling and the libertarian candidate, who needs 2% of the vote to continue ballot access. Ballard announced Saturday that he has more than 52,000 signatures, which is above the 37,000 required by state law.
For Bayh, who has strong name recognition on the Democratic ticket, there could be a concern about a potential Ballard candidacy because it could sway moderate voters or disaffected Republicans to vote for Ballard, Bennion said. But, it is much more likely that Republicans would vote for Ballard, she said.
“Certainly, anytime you have multiple parties, multiple candidates, in the race it means that the major party candidates cannot take as much for granted as they might otherwise,” Bennion said.
Engling touted himself to delegates as the candidate best positioned to continue the GOP’s decade-long hold on all statewide offices, the Indiana Capital Chronicle reported.
“We can go into November united as a team, confident and with a candidate that has a vision for the office, a statewide network and support to raise the money … so we can win in November,” Engling said.
Bayh — a son of former governor and U.S. senator Evan Bayh — won the Democratic nomination earlier this month and has already raised more than $2.5 million for his campaign. Democrats hope he can break a streak that has seen Republicans win all statewide elections since 2014.
In his speech to delegates Saturday, Engling knocked Bayh as “a prep school kid with a familiar name.” His speech aimed to tie Bayh and Indiana Democrats to contentious national issues, the Indiana Capital Chronicle reported.
“If they win, we will be handing over our voter rolls to the party that gave us open borders and illegal immigrant voters,” Engling said.
Engling favors closing Indiana’s primary voting, arguing that Democrats shouldn’t be allowed to influence Republican primaries, the Indiana Capital Chronicle reported.
Engling has a dozen years experience in Washington as a Republican congressional staffer after graduating from Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, including five years as an aide to then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy before moving back to Indiana in 2023.
Bayh said in a statement after Engling’s convention win that “Hoosiers are ready for a change in the secretary of state’s office.”
“They are tired of the corruption, insider dealing, and waste of taxpayer money that Max Engling and the political insiders pulling his strings have enabled for years,” Bayh said. “I will continue to work to earn the votes of all Hoosiers and will be the secretary of state for all Hoosiers.”
Lake County Democratic Party Chairman Michael Repay said Engling was selected by “the power brokers of the Republican Party.” State Republican leadership should’ve removed Morales from office long before the convention, he said.
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“If they wanted to protect the people, they could’ve taken Diego out a long time ago,” Repay said.
Repay said he was excited about Bayh’s candidacy because along with his family’s name recognition he is an attorney and has clerked for a federal judge.
“There’s so many things that make Beau the obvious choice … the voters will choose,” Repay said.
In November, Niemeyer predicts that Engling “will win handedly.”
“This is a Republican state and I think that’s going to hold true,” Niemeyer said.
Voters will be energized by Engling and Bayh in November, Uldricks said. While he respects the Democratic Party’s strategy in nominating Bayh, Uldricks said Engling will win in November because Indiana is a Republican state.
Porter County Democratic Party Chairman Don Craft said it was smart of the Republican delegates not to nominate Morales, but he should’ve been removed from office before the convention.
“I’m very excited about the candidate on our side of the race. I think Beau is an excellent candidate and I don’t think Max will match up,” Craft said.