Indiana's Republican Party nominated Max Engling for the secretary of state race at its convention in Fort Wayne Saturday afternoon.
Hundreds of delegates came from around the state to meet party candidates and discuss the Republican policy platform. Party conventions in Indiana are used to appoint the parties' candidates for statewide races instead of being voted on in the primary.
Delegates this year voted on a crowded and contentious secretary of state field — deciding whether to send current Secretary of State Diego Morales back to the ballot this November or replace him with one of three other candidates.
Morales' time in office, and even before he was elected, has been plagued by controversies involving accusations of nepotism, fraud and misspending of state dollars.
Top Republicans turned on Morales just weeks before the convention and pivoted to support Max Engling, a staffer for U.S. Sen. Jim Banks (R-Ind).
"I'm Max Engling, I'm a Christian, I'm a husband, I'm a father, and I'm running for secretary of state to defend our elections and uphold our shared conservative values with zero compromise," Engling told delegates Saturday. He cautioned the party against supporting a candidate who didn't have fundraising support or broad party backing.
"If we lose the office, we can lose everything else," Engling said.
Engling also promised an effort to close the Republican primaries. The issue has become prominent in recent weeks after Senate Candidate Paula Copenhaver accused Democratic voters in her district of improperly voting in the Republican primary in order to cast a ballot for Spencer Deery.
It's a message that resonated with delegate Jerry Armstrong of Allen County.
"They [Democrats] are trying to falsely vote against the wrong person, and so that ruins our vote, but we can't stop them because they're claiming they're Republican," Armstrong said. "What Max is going to do is close that to all Democrats."
Knox County Clerk David Shelton and former Republican gubernatorial candidate Jamie Reitenour were also seeking the Republican nomination for secretary of state.
The pivot by top Republicans from Morales to Engling took center stage Saturday as candidates sparred over who best represents the party, and whether power and money were directing the nomination process in the "backrooms."
"Listen to me, you Republican warriors here at this convention," said Lake County Republican Randy Niemeyer in his speech nominating Shelton. "Did y'all come here to be told what to do?"
Morales pitched himself to delegates as the candidate who kept his promise to enact voter fraud protections during his time in the secretary of state's office. He also billed his campaign as one against the "establishment," which he accused of sabotaging his candidacy in recent weeks when top state Republicans pulled endorsements for him.
"The establishment never wants you to have a choice," Morales said. "Now comes the biggest heist of all, top Republicans who publicly embraced me, who publicly endorsed me, suddenly stabbed me in the back and tried to take over this convention."
Morales also defended himself after recent controversy surrounding his chief of staff caused party officials, like State Treasurer Daniel Elliot, to call for his resignation.
"You elected me, you trusted me as a legal immigrant," Morales said. "I'm asking the delegates that welcome me in their homes and farms and businesses. For over two decades, I've been involved in Republican politics. Don't let attacks against my story in the American dream and against legal immigrants swayed your decision today."
Shelton and others argued why they would be the best candidate to run against Democrat Beau Bayh in November.
"The secretary of state's office is not a beauty pageant or a popularity contest. It's an operational machine," Shelton told delegates. "It runs our elections, it safeguards our businesses and consumers."
Valeria Warycha is a delegate from Marion County, and said she supported Shelton because of his previous election administration work as the county clerk in Knox County.
"We need an election administrator who knows how to do the job," Warycha told WFYI. "We need a workhorse, not a show horse."
Warycha also took issue with what she sees as the party "establishment" handpicking who should be the nominee, instead of allowing delegates to have the final say.
"Delegates don't like to be told what to do, and the delegates can read a resume and see whose resume is the right match for secretary of state," she said.
Candidates took issue with the way Morales has run things, noting they did not feel he could stay in the role.
Candidate Jamie Reitenour, during her speech, noted Morales had not kept his promise to return voting to paper ballots, something she supports.
"I did not participate in the defilement of this race," Reitenour said. "Instead, I have come to wash your feet with goodness. I have treated this campaign like a job interview."
Reitenour was the first candidate to be dropped from the race Saturday afternoon after receiving only 135 votes during the first round of voting. Engling came in first during the first round of voting with 715 votes, Shelton came in second with 543 votes, and Morales came in third with 283 votes.
In the second and final round of voting 134 votes went to Morales, 627 went to Shelton, and Engling topped them with 867 votes.
"Let's go win as a team in November," Engling told the crowd of delegates as they filed towards the doors late Saturday afternoon.
Engling will now face Democrat Beau Bayh and Libertarian Lori Shilling on the November ballot.
Bayh released a statement after Engling's win was announced, saying the Republican nominee represented the "corruption, insider dealing, and waste of taxpayer money" that Hoosiers are tired of.
Independent Greg Ballard also released a statement as the convention concluded, saying his campaign has submitted over 52,000 signatures of the close to 37,000 required. Those signatures will still need to be verified by county clerks.
"It didn't matter who the Republicans nominated today. There are more independents in Indiana than Republicans or Democrats, and this November they will finally have a true independent to vote for," Ballard's campaign said.
Ballard, the former mayor of Indianapolis, plans to run under a new political party, the Lincoln Party.
During the convention, the party also declared Daniel Elliott as the party's state treasurer candidate and Elise Nieshalla as the party's state comptroller candidate. Both currently serve in those roles and ran uncontested for reelection.
Contact Government Reporter Benjamin Thorp at bthorp@wfyi.org
Contact Government Reporter Caroline Beck at cbeck@wfyi.org
