Shillings brings homegrown biz experience to electoral bid

This is the final of four profiles in Indiana’s secretary of state race.

Lauri Shillings presents herself as a homegrown everywoman aspiring to statewide office.

“I’m very much a working-class person. I’ve never held less than two jobs,” said Shillings, who works as a creative director for the University of Indianapolis when she’s not campaigning. She gave up a third gig as an adjunct professor at Ivy Tech Community College to run for office, and has put her design firm and video-game streaming channel on hold.

“I’m always working. I understand the hustle, and I think people of Indiana respect that because I don’t think they have somebody (in the race) besides me that truly represents the working class of Indiana,” she added.

Where other secretary of state candidates have been hounded by criticism of time spent outside Indiana, Shillings hasn’t strayed far from her hometown in Montgomery County — where her family has lived since 1824.

Both of her parents have worked as first responders, with Shillings’ father serving about three decades as chief of Coal Creek Fire and Rescue across more than 50 years in the field.

“That was my experience with how leadership should work, where you step in and do the work that you need to do in your community,” said Shillings, who now resides in Hamilton County.

Volunteer to ‘face of the party’

Shillings’ journey to the Libertarian Party began a decade ago, amid Donald Trump’s audacious entry into national Republican politics, when she “became really invested in how leadership in our government is supposed to be, and felt real concern about that.”

“I’d never been a straight-ticket voter,” she said. “I’d always voted for the best person for the job, which lent me to the Libertarian side of things, where … you have to align with the person doing the work.”

Shillings stepped from simply casting a ballot to volunteering her time and talent after her partner — Danny Lundy, who is also now her campaign manager — invited her to join him at Libertarian events.

Indiana Libertarians nominate Lauri Shillings for secretary of state

“Once I became involved, I saw there was nothing but work that needed to be done,” she said.

Shillings, who holds an associate degree in visual communications from Ivy Tech and a bachelor’s degree in community and nonprofit leadership from the University of Indianapolis, has lent her graphic design skills to the Libertarian cause.

She was the “primary source” for two-time Libertarian gubernatorial nominee Donald Rainwater’s social media designs and branding, said Libertarian Party of Indiana Chair Stephanie Dasbach, who met Shillings while working on that campaign.

Shillings said she still does pro bono work for political campaigns and nonprofits “because everybody deserves good branding,” even as she has taken on party leadership positions.

She has chaired the Libertarian Party of Hamilton County since 2020 and has served as the state central committee’s 5th congressional district representative since 2023.

This is her second campaign. Shillings in 2024 made an unsuccessful bid for Congress.

“I’ve seen her go from just being a volunteer, helping with artwork, helping with whatever needed to be done, to becoming the county chair, to now being the face of the party, and she’s doing a very good job with that,” said Mark Rutherford, a longtime Libertarian who served twice as vice chair of the national party, ran for secretary of state in 2018, and who has known Shillings for more than a decade.

Entrepreneur support

The secretary of state’s office oversees elections, securities, auto dealer and business services.

Departing officeholder Diego Morales, a Republican, has worked with the GOP-led Legislature to increase scrutiny of citizenship in voting in pursuit of election security.

Last year, he revealed the office had provided detailed voter information to federal authorities. He and Attorney General Todd Rokita later announced that a federal review found 165 noncitizens have registered to vote in Indiana and 21 have cast ballots in elections here.

It is illegal under both Indiana and federal law for noncitizens to vote in elections. No state charges have been brought.

Shillings said there are “checks and balances in place currently.”

“There’s been very little voter fraud in the last 10 years,” she continued. “… It is a false narrative to slam in an immigration policy that I don’t think we need, especially in Indiana. We already have a voter ID (law) that says you have to prove who you are to vote in in this state, and it’s effective, and it works. So I don’t think that’s necessary to expand upon.”

Instead, Shillings has drawn on her design and entrepreneurship experience to propose an overhaul of the secretary of state’s website, including campaign finance functions and business services.

She recounted navigating the website herself and encountering “not found” errors or outdated forms. She posits that modernizing the website — so Hoosiers can more easily find candidates for office, their donors, post-election audits and more — could improve the public’s perception of election security.

“I think if people felt that the office was doing the work and knew about it, they might be more secure in their own feelings about how our elections are run,” she said.

She also wants to make IN BIZ, the state’s portal for businesses, easier to navigate for small owners confused about how to file paperwork or fix errors — and use AI for basic help outside business hours.

“When I’m running a business, it’s usually at 11 o’clock at night, after my day job, after I’ve taken care of my household duties … like 9 p.m. till midnight,” Shillings said. “… And if I can’t reach somebody during business hours because I’m already obligated to do something else, it’s real frustrating for me to work on a business of my own — my own dreams — without having that support.”

Ballot access bid

Shillings’ run will fulfill another purpose that neither Republican nominee Max Engling nor Democratic nominee Beau Bayh must consider — and which independent candidate Greg Ballard hopes to achieve for the nascent Lincoln Party.

The secretary of state contest is the ballot access race for Indiana political parties. The winner and runner-up earn major party status for their groups. Minor party candidates must earn 2% of the vote to secure their party’s right to select candidates at convention for automatic listing on the general election ballot.

The Libertarian Party has maintained that since clearing the 2% mark in the 1994 election, but hasn’t yet cracked the 10% threshold required to trigger state-funded primary elections.

“We don’t take lightly that we’ve had our ballot access 30-plus years,” Dasbach said. “… And knowing that you know there’s a flooded field does say, ‘Hey, we need to work harder to make sure that we can maintain that.’ … I am confident that we will reach that threshold.”

She believed Shillings will beat out Ballard for the protest votes cast by Hoosiers dissatisfied with the Republican and Democratic parties, pointing to the party’s decades of history.

The only independent poll released in the race so far, commissioned by Free Press Indiana, showed Shillings with 6% support and Ballard at 5%.