Former Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard will be on the ballot in November in the Indiana secretary of state’s race after securing enough signatures to run as the Lincoln Party candidate.
Indiana Secretary of State Diego Morales, who lost his party’s nomination for reelection last month, signed a certification of petition of nomination Wednesday stating that Ballard received 40,361 valid signatures to be placed on the ballot.
Ballard was required to collect 36,943 valid signatures to be placed on the ballot, according to the certification.
“It’s good to be on the ballot. A lot of hard work by a lot of different people. It’s a great movement here in the State of Indiana. It’s really special to be on the ballot, and now onward to November,” Ballard said in a video posted on his campaign Facebook page.
Ballard, who served as the Republican mayor of Indianapolis from 2008 to 2016, will face Republican Max Engling, Democrat Beau Bayh, and Libertarian Lauri Shillings in November.
If Ballard tops the 2% mark in November’s election, the new Lincoln Party’s candidates would automatically be on the general election ballot for the next four years. Libertarians have topped 2% since the 1994 secretary of state race, according to the Indiana Capital Chronicle.
Ballard’s campaign reported paying $780,000 to the North Carolina-based firm Ballot Access Marketing for signature collection. That represents more than 90% of the campaign’s nearly $850,000 in total spending through the end of June, according to the Indiana Capital Chronicle.
Indiana University Associate Professor of Political Science Aaron Dusso said the secretary of state race is important to people who pay close attention to politics, but it’s not a major race for most voters, which is a challenge for third-party candidates.
“Without the Democratic or Republican label on the ballot, you need to connect with people in some other way,” Dusso said. “Ballard has some advantages because he has the name recognition, at least in the Indianapolis area.”
Another element a third-party candidate needs is campaign funds, Dusso said.
The 2026 election is a mid-term election under a Republican president that has low approval ratings, which means that Democrats should have more success in November, Dusso said. Ballard could potentially draw in Republican voters who don’t want to support the Republican candidates but don’t want to vote Democrat, he said.
But, Ballard has shown that his campaign is large enough to collect the amount of signatures needed to get on the ballot, which is a major hurdle to cross, Dusso said. Now, he will need the funds to campaign across the state.
Ballard will have to get voters to recognize that the secretary of state’s race is important, convince them to leave their party, and then convince them to vote for him, Dusso said. Ballard will also have to grapple with running against Bayh, which is a larger political name in Indiana.
“There’s a lot of odds stacked against him,” Dusso said of Ballard.
Engling, 39, has been central Indiana regional director and adviser to U.S. senator Jim Banks since early last year. He entered the race in May as Banks and Attorney General Todd Rokita withdrew their endorsements of Morales after the Indy Politics website revealed a former Morales staffer registered to vote using a temporary driver’s license issued to noncitizens.
During his tenure, Morales was dogged by numerous controversies including using taxpayer funds to pay for international travel and a GMC Yukon Denali, awarding no-bid-contracts to donors, and hiring his brother-in-law.
Bayh — a son of former governor and U.S. senator Evan Bayh and grandson of former U.S. Senator Birch 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 sweep statewide elections since 2014.
Porter County Democratic Party Chairman Don Craft said Ballard entering the race means he will likely do well in the Indianapolis area, but he will likely have a harder run state-wide.
“Overall, I think it takes away from the Republican and it shows that Greg Ballard doesn’t believe in the Republican candidate,” Craft said.
Lake County Democratic Party Chairman Michael Repay said that in the secretary of state’s race name recognition, which Bayh has, will be a major factor for voters when they cast a ballot in November.
While Ballard does have name recognition, Repay said that will likely only pull votes away from the Republican candidate in Marion County.
“Having another candidate on the ballot will help us, the people of Indiana and Beau Bayh,” Repay said. “In general, I think it’s the year for Democrats in Indiana.”
Lake County Republican Party Chairman Randy Niemeyer said Ballard entered the race to create a three-way race to take votes away from Engling.
“I believe this will backfire on the liberal elites supporting both Bayh and Ballard thus giving Max Engling a real shot to win Lake County in a three-way race. We intend to work diligently to make electoral success in Lake County and Indiana a reality for the Engling campaign,” Niemeyer said.