Engling captures Republican bid for Indiana secretary of state

FORT WAYNE, Ind. — Indiana Republicans picked Max Engling on Saturday as their secretary of state candidate, capping a 31-day ascent from little-known political staffer to nominee for statewide office.

Engling won the nomination on the state GOP convention’s second ballot, finishing ahead of Knox County Clerk David Shelton as incumbent Secretary of State Diego Morales came in a distant third.

Engling received 867 votes to secure the nomination with 53% support. Shelton followed with 627 votes and Morales 134. Conservative activist Jamie Reitenour was eliminated in the first round of voting.

His victory puts him on the November election ballot against Democrat Beau Bayh, Libertarian Lauri Shillings and a likely independent bid by former Republican Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard.

Engling said despite the convention contest he was ready  to extend Republican control of the office that oversees statewide voting practices.

“We’re not looking at what the other folks are doing, we’re moving forward as a Republican team,” Engling told reporters. “We’re expecting to move forward and win in the fall.”

Banks staffer to top Republican ticket

The 39-year-old Engling has been central Indiana regional director and adviser to U.S. Jim Banks since early last year.

Engling jumped into the race last month as Banks and Attorney General Todd Rokita withdrew their endorsements of Morales. The political split came with Rokita saying worried Morales could lose the fall election after “many self-inflicted wounds.”

Engling touted himself to delegates as the candidate best positioned to continue the GOP’s decade-long hold on all statewide offices.

“We can go into November united as a team, confident and with a candidate that has a vision for the office, a statewide network and support to raise the money … so we can win in November,” Engling said.

Bayh — a son of former governor and U.S. senator Evan 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 go 23-0 in statewide elections since 2014.

In his speech to delegates Saturday, Engling knocked Bayh as “a prep school kid with a familiar name.”

Engling sought to tie Bayh and Indiana Democrats to contentious national issues.

“If they win, we will be handing over our voter rolls to the party that gave us open borders and illegal immigrant voters,” Engling said.

Bayh said in a statement after Engling’s convention win that “Hoosiers are ready for a change in the secretary of state’s office.”

“They are tired of the corruption, insider dealing, and waste of taxpayer money that Max Engling and the political insiders pulling his strings have enabled for years,” Bayh said. “I will continue to work to earn the votes of all Hoosiers and will be the secretary of state for all Hoosiers.”

Banks repeated his endorsement of Engling during a speech to delegates Friday evening. Gov. Mike Braun and U.S. Sen. Todd Young also spoke Friday but didn’t wade into the secretary of state contest.

The move by Banks to push forward one of his staffers as an alternative to Morales came just weeks after six Republican state senators who voted against the Trump-demanded congressional redistricting lost to primary challengers.

Political organizations controlled by Banks largely bankrolled the multimillion-dollar advertising blitz against those senators — helping carry out Trump’s goal of political revenge over the redistricting defeat.

Morales’ loss followed numerous controversies about office spending and travel since he won office in 2022. He sought to hold onto connections he built with GOP activists by relentless attendance at local party events and dinners over several years.

He scored an upset convention win in 2022 when he defeated incumbent Holli Sullivan for the nomination, but he received tepid applause from the delegates as he spoke before voting began.

He tried to rally support by telling them “the establishment never wants you to have a choice.”

“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 said.

But Morales was third in the first round of voting by delegates, which saw Engling get 715 votes, Shelton 543, Morales 283 and Reitenour 135. Reitenour was eliminated and delegates moved on to a second round of balloting since Engling was short of the majority vote needed to secure the nomination.

Morales stayed in the race for the second round despite the dismal showing. He declined to talk with the Indiana Capital Chronicle about that decision while waiting to greet delegates on their way to vote, saying “I’m busy. I’m busy.”

Engling says he will advocate for closing Indiana’s primary voting, arguing that Democrats shouldn’t be allowed to influence Republican primaries.

Engling began working for Banks last year, joining the U.S. senator’s office staff after he finished third in a 2024 Republican congressional primary race won by Rep. Victoria Spartz. 

He points to his experience from a dozen years in Washington as a Republican congressional staffer after graduating from Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. That time included about five years as an aide to then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy before moving back to Indiana in 2023.

“I’ve worked for two decades keeping Democrat priorities out of your life,” Engling told delegates. “It means I’ve helped good candidates across the finish line in their races, and it means I have direct experience keeping elections strong and controlled by Republicans.”

Shelton unable to stop Engling

Shelton had the backing of many county clerks around the state and presented himself as an “election nerd” with the most relevant experience among the candidates.

“I am the only candidate in this race who has run an election,” Shelton told delegates. “I’m the person the county clerks call when they need answers.”

Shelton had been working the circuit of county party events for more than a year, pressing the argument that Morales’ controversies would make him a vulnerable nominee.

He tried again Saturday, telling delegates “Democrats won’t have anything to hit me on. I am not riddled with scandals.”

But it is Engling who will be leading the Republican statewide ticket in a general election without a higher profile office such as governor or U.S. senator on the ballot.

That comes with the task of facing a well-funded Bayh as the Democratic candidate and the possible wildcard of the former Republican Ballard on the ballot.

“We do have to raise the money, absolutely, but we’ve got a statewide network, we have folks that are pressing,” Engling said. “We know that we can raise the money because we raise, and then we go out there and fight on behalf of conservatives. We feel very good about that opportunity.”