Indiana Republicans nominate Max Engling for secretary of state at GOP Convention in Fort Wayne

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) — Republican delegates selected Max Engling as their nominee for Indiana Secretary of State on Saturday, defeating incumbent Diego Morales at the Indiana GOP State Convention in Fort Wayne.

Roughly 1,800 Republican delegates gathered at the Grand Wayne Convention Center to choose the party’s nominee. Engling, a Hamilton County resident and former senior advisor to U.S. Sen. Jim Banks, will now advance to the Nov. 3 general election.

He will face Democratic nominee Beau Bayh and Libertarian nominee Lauri Shillings. Former Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard is also expected to appear on the ballot as an independent candidate after his campaign announced Saturday it had collected more than 52,500 signatures, exceeding the number needed to qualify.

Following his victory, Engling said he was grateful to the delegates and fellow candidates.

“I’m very thankful, very blessed to move forward into the general election,” Engling said. “I’m thankful to the delegates. I’m thankful to the other candidates that ran great races.”

Engling said the campaign will focus heavily on election administration and Republican priorities heading into November.

“We’re going to win when we get there in November,” he said. “The goal is to have common sense solutions where we tighten our security around our elections. I’ve already said it — we’re here to close the primaries, make sure that only citizens are voting in our elections, and to stop the business fraud that we’ve seen in these shell trucking companies that have popped up around the state.”

He said those efforts would begin immediately if elected.

“Priority on day one, we’re going to work with the statehouse to close the primaries,” Engling said. “We already have legislation in the statehouse right now, and we’re pressing on that immediately.”

Engling also addressed the broader political environment, including the possibility of independent candidates on the ballot.

“So, Indiana wants common-sense voting laws,” he said. “They don’t want to move over to a third party; they want to vote for the conservative, Republican option. We’re excited for that.”

He added that Republicans must remain unified heading into the general election.

“Two rounds of voting, understood,” Engling said. “We know that Republicans need to move forward together. That is my mission. So, we are moving forward as a team.”

Engling said the campaign will stay focused on voter turnout and message discipline.

“We’re going to run our race with who we’ve already put forward,” he said. “We’re not looking at what the other folks are doing. We’re going to be energized on our side and say, ‘How do we make sure that our voters are coming out?’ We’re moving forward as a Republican team.”

He closed by emphasizing unity after a competitive convention.

“We are one Republican team,” Engling said. “We know that. We’re going to move forward as a unified team.”

Indiana State Treasurer Daniel Elliott also spoke during the convention, thanking delegates and reflecting on Republican performance heading into November.

“Well, I’m grateful for the Republican Party and their trust in me,” Elliott said. “I worked really hard these last four years to show that we can get good work done. And I think it paid off.”

Elliott said the focus now shifts to the general election.

“November, that is where it really counts, because November is when we’re going to the people of Indiana to say, ‘Here’s what we’ve done,’” he said. “We have good leadership, good Republican leadership. We have good results, our state is one of the top business states in the country. I raised $1.24 billion in two years, which is double what was done in the previous decade. We’ve got a good winning message, so I’m ready for November, and we really want to get everyone’s vote.”

He encouraged voter participation across the state.

“I appreciate your support, I appreciate your support to get here, and now, we need y’all to get out,” Elliott said. “We need to get out, all of us, and vote. This is a sacred responsibility, and it really means something. We need everyone, especially Republicans, to get out and vote.”

Elliott also noted internal confidence within the party following a contested convention process.

“I’ve been very fortunate that the party supports me,” he said. “The reason we didn’t have any opponents is because we’ve worked really hard and people have seen the good work and what we’ve put forth, and they say, ‘Yes, that is who we need.’”

The convention marks only the third time in the last century that the Indiana Republican Party has held its state convention outside Indianapolis.

“This has surpassed the perfection of the 2014 convention,” Allen County Republican Party Chairman Steve Shine said. “I’ve heard nothing but accolades about how great our city is from people who haven’t been here in the last 12 years.”

Shine said the competitive Secretary of State race helped drive enthusiasm among convention attendees.

“There were four great candidates that worked very hard to secure the votes of the delegates,” Shine said. “Today, the winner showed that they were the one with the most perseverance and were able to convince the delegates that they were the right person to face the Democrats in the fall.”

The Secretary of State contest became increasingly contentious in recent weeks after Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita and Banks withdrew their support for Morales, citing concerns about his ability to win in November.

Rokita said he believes Republicans will unite behind Engling despite the contentious nomination battle.

“Oh, it’s going to play out fine,” Rokita said. “We do this a lot better than Democrats, let me tell you that.”

Following Engling’s victory, Rokita predicted Republicans would rally behind the nominee despite the hard-fought contest.

“Republicans, because we’re all individuals at heart, it’s in our DNA to have these discussions and then unify together,” Rokita said. “I’ve been the candidate in four conventions. Most of them contested.”

Rokita, a former Indiana Secretary of State himself, said he expects the party to come together ahead of the general election. The attorney general said he expects the party to rally around Engling ahead of November.

“Our party has always coalesced around me and against the Democrat in the fall,” Rokita said. “I expect the same thing now.”

Indiana voters will decide the state’s next Secretary of State during the Nov. 3 general election, when Engling faces Bayh, Shillings and potentially Ballard on the statewide ballot.