Greg Ballard Confident in Independent Bid for Secretary of State

INDIANAPOLIS — Former Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard said Thursday that he is highly confident his independent bid for Indiana Secretary of State will secure a spot on the fall ballot, potentially upending a race already fraught with political drama.

To qualify as an independent, Ballard must collect roughly 40,000 certified voter signatures by the end of June. While he declined to state exactly how many signatures his campaign has gathered so far, the former two-term Republican mayor emphasized that his team is well positioned.

“I would suggest to you that we’re moving along really nicely, very confident in our approach,” Ballard said. “I think we’ll be there. Actually, I’m very confident that we’ll be there.”

Ballard is no stranger to running as an underdog. In 2007, he shocked the Indiana political landscape by defeating incumbent Democratic Mayor Bart Peterson in a race where he started as a virtually unknown candidate. Ballard notes that his current statewide infrastructure is lightyears ahead of where he stood nearly two decades ago.

“Even before we announced, I was polling within eight percent of Diego Morales, which is amazing when you think about it,” Ballard said. “This is a very winnable race to us.”

Running as an independent, Ballard says his objective is to offer voters a choice outside the traditional party apparatus. He pledged to run a strictly nonpartisan, independent campaign, stating he will not fundraise or campaign for candidates of either major party.

Despite Ballard’s optimism, political analysts warn that the path to the ballot remains steep and legally vulnerable. Martin Sweet, a political science professor at Purdue University, noted that Ballard will likely need closer to 50,000 signatures to create a safe cushion against inevitable legal challenges from established parties.

“There’s often this idea: ‘Okay, if they’ve gone through the process, even if they’re close enough, we’ll just let it go.’ That may not be the case here given the stakes of this election,” Sweet said.

Sweet explained that the primary objective for state Republicans is defeating Democratic nominee Beau Bayh. If Ballard successfully enters the race, political insiders believe he could split the conservative vote. “If Greg Ballard makes the ballot, then I think it really complicates things,” said Republican strategist and former state lawmaker Mike Murphy. “It gives the Republican nominee a lesser chance of becoming the Secretary of State and actually helps Beau Bayh.”

Ballard stated his campaign is bracing for those challenges by cross-referencing their petitions with public voter rolls to ensure validity. Meanwhile, Democratic nominee Beau Bayh welcomed the potential addition to the ballot, stating that increased competition and choices are ultimately positive for voters.

Ballard’s independent push comes at a chaotic moment for the Indiana Republican party. GOP delegates are scheduled to select their official nominee on Saturday, June 20, amid a fractured four-way race.

Incumbent Secretary of State Diego Morales faces primary challenges from Max Engling—a former staffer to Senator Jim Banks—as well as Jamie Retinour and David Shelton. Morales’s re-election bid has been severely complicated by a wave of nepotism and mismanagement accusations within his office. Though Morales has denied all wrongdoing, the controversy prompted several high-profile Republicans to publicly withdraw their endorsements.

Among them is Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita, who recently revoked his support for Morales. “It’s a matter of making sure you have the trust of the voters,” Rokita said.

While Senator Jim Banks has officially endorsed Engling, Rokita stopped short of a full endorsement for the challenger, instead urging delegates to meet with Engling and make their own informed decision at the convention next week.

Regardless of which candidate emerges from the contentious GOP convention, Ballard maintains that his strategy will remain unchanged.
“I’ll put my record up against anybody coming out of the Republican side, no matter who it is,” Ballard said. “I don’t think it stands up against my record.”