Bayh puts Indiana Democrats back in winning column with secretary of state victory

A new generation of the Bayh family is a winner again for Indiana Democrats.

Beau Bayh prevailed in the secretary of state’s race with about 51.4% of the vote in Tuesday night’s vote tallies over Republican candidate Max Engling’s 43%. About 90% of the vote had been counted statewide.

“Today, Hoosiers voted for change,” Bayh told a jubilant crowd of Democrats in Indianapolis. “For too long, the people of our state have been taken for granted. Too many decisions have been made behind closed doors by insiders. Too many families have played by the rules, while the people in the halls of power have played by a different set.”

The victory by the 30-year-old attorney and Marine Corps veteran is the first statewide win for a Democratic candidate since the 2012 election. 

Bayh’s success makes him the standard bearer among Indiana Democrats, following in the footsteps of his father, former governor and U.S. Sen. Evan Bayh, and late grandfather, U.S. Sen. Birch Bayh.

“Tonight, we said enough is enough. I did not run to join that system. I ran to fight against it,” Bayh said. “I’m not here to answer to party bosses, big donors, or the state house insiders. I’m here to answer to you. Hoosiers work hard for their money, and they deserve to know how every dollar is spent.”

Former Republican Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard, running under the Lincoln Party banner, received 3.6% of the vote — giving the new party enough support to clinch four-year automatic ballot status for its nominees in what was a goal to help what he called “independent-minded candidates.”

Libertarian Lauri Shillings pulled in 2%, which was right at the mark to maintain the party’s ballot status that it has held since the 1994 election.

Engling spoke to a subdued crowd at the Republican event.

“The voters have made their decision, and it’s not what we wanted. It’s not what we’re pushing for, but we fully respect that decision,” he said. 

Bayh said both Engling and Republican Gov. Mike Braun had called to congratulate him on the election victory.

“I appreciate the governor reaching out and congratulating me and I look forward to being a good partner,” Bayh said.

Bayh will take over as the state’s chief elections official in January from incumbent Republican Diego Morales after Bayh focused much of his campaign on what he called corrupt spending of taxpayer money by Morales.

Indiana Democrats hope Beau Bayh leads them from political wilderness

Engling was a largely unknown staffer to Republican U.S. Sen. Jim Banks when he jumped into the secretary of state’s race in May. He defeated Morales at the state GOP convention a month later for the party’s nomination after top Republicans pulled their endorsements over multiple scandals.

He was tasked with trying to extend Republican control of the secretary of state’s office that stretched over eight elections back to 1994.

Bayh, meanwhile, seized on his family’s name recognition and fundraising connections to break what had been a 23-0 Republican winning streak in statewide elections since 2014 — including Evan Bayh’s failed 2016 Senate comeback bid against Todd Young.

His campaign messaging included topics such as data center regulation and support for tax cuts that are outside the secretary of state office’s responsibilities.

That contributed to Republican attacks that Bayh intends using the secretary of state’s office as a stepping stone to a higher position — possibly following his father’s career path of winning election in 1986 at age 30 as secretary of state and then successfully running for governor two years later.

Following his victory speech, Bayh spurned that presumption.

“I’ve committed to serving a full term in this office. We have a lot of work in the years ahead,” Bayh told reporters. “Conducting an independent audit, making those results available to the public, and holding people accountable will take some time. Delivering on the legislative priorities that I’ve laid out will take some time. An end to straight-ticket voting, and there’s at least some Republicans in the Statehouse that agree with me. Implementing citizen-led ballot initiatives, that could potentially be a multi-year process.”