Current Secretary of State Diego Morales lost the Republican Primary this May, after losing the endorsement of top state Republicans when Max Engling announced he would run.
His Democratic challenger is Beau Bayh.
Morales was criticized for purchasing a $90,000 vehicle for official use with taxpayer dollars, awarding no-bid contracts to businesses that supported his campaign and hiring a family member to a six-figure job.
This fraught tenure is one big reason former Republican Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard decided to run for Secretary of State.
Technically, Ballard is running independent, but under his new Lincoln Party label. He said he wants to bring “dignity” back to office.
“I also want to make it an independent office. I want to be free of partisanship,” he said. “If you're running for office somewhere and the secretary of state has been campaigning for your opponent, that doesn't seem quite right to me. Seems unethical.”
His first action as Secretary of State would be ‘cleaning up the office’ and establishing a voter guide for elections.
“So, anything that is on the ballot, I think people need to know ahead of time. We want to push that out to all the registered voters in the state”
The other third party candidate is Libertarian Lauri Shillings.
Shillings is a creative director at the University of Indianapolis, who said she has decades of leadership experience in the public and private sectors — something she thinks is missing in the incumbent.
“I didn't see leadership qualities. There was a lot of self-serving, and I think the people of Indiana deserve a representative in that office that truly serves them in their business interests and in their election interests.”
She wants to start with voter education and auditing her own office. As a Libertarian, she said the goal is people’s-rights-first.
“We don't really work towards a public policy for our party. We do it all for the individual rights of the individual.”
Greg Ballard Full interview transcript
AI generated with light editing
Timothy Jagielo: Okay, so thank you so much. So, first step, why are you running for secretary of state?
Ballard: I think the office needs to be have a little bit more dignity and honor than it has in the past. I also want to make it an independent office. I want to be free of partisanship. If you're running for office somewhere and the secretary of state has been campaigning for your opponent, that doesn't seem quite right to me. Seems unethical. So, I want to tell everybody that when I get in this office, I will not be endorsing for anybody, I will not be fundraising for anybody, I will not donate to anybody, I will make it an independent office once I get in there, and I hope that becomes the standard for future secretaries of state.
Jagielo: What partisan activities have you seen?
Ballard: He's out there campaigning for other people. I mean, that's pretty obvious by itself. So both parties do it. Both parties do it. You're right, it's not necessarily this. Let's go. going on in the last four years, is actually what's been going on for the last few decades. It's a partisan office now, and I don't think it should be. I think it should be independent. (Note: Morales has endorsed Republican candidates from the US President to Statehouse, to circuit court candidates.)
Jagielo: Do you want to talk about your platform?
Ballard: Lots of things we want to do. One is to bring dignity back to that office, because it's been battered a little bit in the last four years. I don't think there's much question about that, but also we'd like to do some things that maybe improve processes in the business services and securities division.
I think that makes a little bit of sense, but also we want to have a voter's guide. We've been very open about this. Lots of states have voter guides. Sometimes it takes a long time to vote, because once people get in the ballot, the voting booth, they don't know what they're voting on. I mean, how many times have we all gone in there? Say, who are these two people? I don't even know them. And so, anything that is on the ballot, I think people need to know ahead of time. We want to push that out to all the registered voters in the state, and that's, I think, that'd be tremendous for the Hoosier voters, so we'll know what they're voting on and who they're voting on
Jagielo: What would your first priorities be?
Ballard: Well, that would be one of them. Actually, we certainly want to clean out anything that we think is being done incorrectly. I think we'll do that. I think everybody would tell you the same thing: restoring, getting the right people in there, get the right processes in there is going to be very important, but there's also things besides the voter's guide that we'd like to get in there, but also I think we need to advocate.
This is very much a closed system in the state of Indiana to vote, and less than one in five people in the state of Indiana can actually run for office if you're as a Democrat or Republican. Lots of people who want to serve, they have no place to go, they're uncomfortable with either party, and I think that's a common thing throughout the state right now.
So many people are almost disgusted by both parties, they seem to be broken, they seem to be self-serving now, as opposed to serving the Hoosier voter, lots of things that I think have to be changed in that office and. With the legislative help, hopefully, hopefully make this a more open voting system for everybody.
Jagielo: Have you done any of these listening sessions yet?
Ballard: We've had different sessions that we take questions at. This is the first one that's been billed as a listening session, but as we go out and talk to groups, as we have been doing for a couple months now, we take all the questions that we can.
Jagielo: What have you heard so far? What do people want from a secretary of state?
Ballard: That's a great question, but I will say the main sentiment that I hear is, ‘thank you for doing this.’ I hear that everywhere, everywhere I go, people say ‘thank you for doing this,’ which tells me people are really upset with what's been going on. So they just, they just want the office to be run well, they want them, they don't want it on the front page of a newspaper every other day, and I think that's important.
Jagielo: I know that the incumbent is not running again, but what would you want to do differently? Do you have any examples of things that are kind of forward facing that?
Ballard: I think the voter guide is one of them. I mean, it's very obvious that that needs to be done … it's such a closed system, and it's almost like neither party wants people to know who's on the ballot, who they're voting for, they don't have much voter choice anymore, and I think that there's a, there's a system in there, there's a reason I have to go out and get 37,000 signatures, that's far more than any other state around us, not even, not even close, but we're going to break that barrier, the punitive obstacles to just try to get on the ballot to provide choices for voters. It's just, it's a hill to climb that should not be there. And the system here in Indiana is just, it's so closed, and people don't know it, because they just accept it. I think it needs to change.
Jagielo: You may have already kind of answered this question, but why independent?
Ballard: That's a great question, because I'm like so many other people that I'm too practical, too much of a problem solving. I don't want to serve the parties, I want to serve the people of Indiana. That's why I'm doing this. I don't have to be doing this. I want to do this. I mean, I'm dedicated to doing this, because I think this has potential for the future of Indiana. That is, that maybe people don't quite see right now, but I'm running as an independent.
I have to get these 37,000 signatures, which is a huge punitive requirement. But then we become the Lincoln Party, because we have to do that because of state law. If I get these 37,000 signatures, and we're at 64,000 gathered, I get 37,000 verified by the clerks. If I run again, I have to go get the 37,000 again. So that's why you form the Lincoln Party. And if you get 2-percent, 10-percent gets in the primary, 2-percent forms the party. And so that people like me, practical problem-solving people who want to serve the public don't have to go through the signature requirement anymore. They can run through the Lincoln Party and provide more choice for voters in the future.
Jagielo: Well, do you want to talk about, tell me a little bit about yourself leading up to this point?
Ballard: Sure. Grew up in Indiana, Indianapolis, went to high school in Indianapolis, went to IU in Bloomington, joined the Marine Corps. Then 23 years in the Marines in the Persian Gulf War, back in 1990-91 Had a great career, was very blessed in that regard. I come back to Indianapolis six years later, I'm running for mayor of Indianapolis, and what many consider the biggest upset in the history of the state. I won that office.
It's a Democratic city, Republican in a Democratic city at that time, and won that office, got reelected, and my numbers were good going into a third term, but I didn't think I wanted to do a third term at that point in time. So I got out. I've been working on some nonprofits, I'm doing things around the city and around the state that people asked me to do, and so I've been … it's been pretty good for me, but when this opportunity came in, when we figured out what this could do for the future of the state, that's when I jumped back in. I mean, it's been a while, but this.. this opportunity was too important to pass up.
Jagielo: Would you like to share an elevator pitch for why people should vote for you and not vote for one of the parties?
Ballard: Well, I'm the only one with experience in this race, that's why people should vote for me as Secretary of State. Neither the candidates for the Democrat or Republican have any experience, they've never been in charge of anything in their life, and I obviously had 7000 employees, a billion dollar plus budget every year in the city of Indianapolis.
I have a lot of experience in running government institutions, serving the government in 31 years between the Marine Corps and being the mayor of Indianapolis, and my opponents really have no experience running anything, so I think that people can choose that. All they want, but that looks pretty obvious to me. I'm by far the most qualified person in this race.
Jagielo: Why do you want to be Secretary of State?
Ballard: Because I want to change the tenor of the office, I want to restore dignity to the office, I want it to be independent. I think it's so important that it be independent, and also I'm hoping to advocate to help change systems, the voting systems throughout the state of Indiana to make it more open for people, so people have more choice, more people can run for office. It's really closed system, and sometimes people don't know that, but all those things are very important to me. And we found a way, or we think we can do this, not just this year in this race, but into the future.
Lauri Shillings full interview transcript
AI generated, lightly edited
Timothy Jagielo: Can you tell me a little bit about yourself?
Lauri Shillings: I have been a native-born Hoosier for my whole life. I have a 10th generation here in Indiana. I spent 50 years watching my dad serve his community as a fire chief. I'm a creative director for the University of Indianapolis. I do marketing work for myself as my own personal business. I have decades of experience as a leader in business and nonprofits, a degree in community and nonprofit leadership, and I decided to run for Secretary of State because I saw none of those qualities in current state leadership, especially our Secretary of State's office. So 18 months ago, I decided to fix it.
Jagielo: My next question was just, why are you running — to build on what you said?
Shillings: A lot of it is based on those same sort of things. I didn't see leadership qualities. There was a lot of self-serving, and I think the people of Indiana deserve a representative in that office that truly serves them in their business interests and in their election interests.
Jagielo: If elected, what would your first policy goal be?
Shillings: So, some of the things I really want to focus on is voter education to make sure individuals know who's on their ballot, where they can go vote, and how to obtain those materials. Secondly, I really want to make sure that we and everybody talks about auditing the office. I want to make sure that we do that on a regular basis. That's a normal part of doing business. It shouldn't be a special occasion.
I want to assess the team in the office and make sure that we are addressing their challenges and they're in the best seats possible for their role. I also want to make sure that we really do start to tackle that website. I probably won't get it done initially, but it is worth the investment. It's the number one project that I want to attach to. So we make sure that our business portals are flawless. That's the window to the world for Indiana for people who want to come here and start their dream business. And I want to make sure there's full transparency for voters, so that they know who's on their ballot, who's paying for their politicians from the state level clear down to county level.
Jagielo: You are running as a libertarian. How will that kind of influence or inform how you operate as the Secretary of State?
Shillings: Libertarians are well versed in independence. We want to make sure that it is people's rights first. We don't really work towards a public policy for our party. We do it all for the individual rights of the individual, and it's truly a neutral, ethical way to run an office because we see a lot of partisanship right now, where they're doing the work of their party leaders instead of for the people of Indiana.
Jagielo: how would you operate differently from the incumbent? Do you want to add anything about that?
Shillings: Well, I certainly wouldn't be spending $90,000 on luxury vehicles or sending the voter rolls to the Washington D.C. Your privacy is paramount, and I think that that should be respected.
Jagielo: There has been a lot of pressure from the executive branch of the federal government on state elected officials. How would you handle pressure from the outside while doing your job as the Secretary of State?
Shillings: Well, I think the role demands someone with a little bit of backbone, and I know I've got that, and I'm not going to bow or bend the knee to D.C. I'm here to do the work for the people of Indiana, not for a political party. (Note: in a public meeting, Ballard also said much the same when asked about political pressure.)
Jagielo: And this is just kind of like getting a sense of how you feel about these. But how do you feel about primaries? How do you feel about closed primaries, semi-closed, open primaries, and so on?
Shillings: So the primary system in Indiana is paid for by the taxpayer, so they should remain open as long as the taxpayer is paying for that. If they want to close their primaries, like the Libertarians do, we do all of our work at convention. Don't demand taxpayers pay for that. (Note: Ballard and Democrat Beau Bayh also stated this; Republican Max Engling favors closed primaries.)
Jagielo: Redistricting was a big topic in the winter and the spring, and one thing that exists in other states is an independent redistricting committee. How do you feel about something like that versus the way districts are drawn now in Indiana?
Shillings: So our last redistricting was done by a nonpartisan committee. Our Libertarian candidate at that time did have some influence on that, and it should only be done on the census years rather than trying to push for more political control, and it was we're actually ranked one of the better redistrict states in the nation right now. Instead of trying to force a policy for power grab, let's make sure that all people of Indiana are represented.
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