Greg Ballard’s Lincoln Party Push Could Reshape Indiana Elections and Challenge Republican Control

Greg Ballard is the former Republican mayor of Indianapolis. He is now attempting to run for secretary of state in the state of Indiana on a third party, a third party that doesn’t exist right now. Now, I know most of you know this, but for those of you who don’t, he is trying to form what he’s calling the Lincoln Party. And in order to have a party on the ballot in Indiana, you have to get at least 2% of the vote in the Secretary of State’s race. That gets you what is called general election ballot access. Our libertarian friends have that. They don’t have primaries where people can go vote. They have conventions where they nominate their candidates, but they are on the ballot in the fall for elections, they have ballot access. 2% of the secretary of state vote is the standard. Then there is what we call primary ballot access. That’s a big deal. That’s what our Republican and Democrat, well, they’re not friends, but our Republicans and Democrats have. I have many Democrat friends and Republican friends. I’m just saying, I don’t think the parties are very receptive as a collective, but they have what’s called primary ballot access. And in order to secure that, you need 10% of the vote in the Secretary of State’s race.

Greg Ballard’s Lincoln Party Effort Gains Momentum Across Indiana

So Greg Ballard, under a banner he is calling the Lincoln Party, is trying to get on the ballot in the Secretary of State’s race to create a new third party in the state of Indiana. In order to do that, to get on the ballot, he needs to get 37,000 verified signatures. He has until the end of June to complete this task.

Indiana Ballot Access Rules Create Major Hurdles for Third Parties

He’s been at it for about two months. He reported yesterday that he has crossed the 20,000 signature threshold. Now some of these signatures will likely be tossed out. They have to be verified, which means the name has to match the address where people are registered to vote. Not that anybody would do anything malicious. It happens all the time. I, as somebody who has collected these signatures for a U.S. Senate race before, lots of signatures get thrown out. It’s no one’s fault. So if you take, let’s just take 10% of signatures away, that would put him at over 18,000 legitimate signatures. That’ll hold up, which makes him about halfway there. I have seen these people out collecting signatures. They were at the Brownsburg Walmart the other day getting signatures. And so with still really almost two months left to go, he’s in that territory of being able to actually get the 37,000 verified signatures, which would put him on the ballot. If Greg Ballard gets on the ballot, I see zero way, as in none, he doesn’t end up with 2% of the vote in this state, no matter who the Republican nominee for Secretary of State is. And that would mean there would be another party on our ballots each fall to choose from, provided the libertarians also get the 2%.

Potential Ballot Impact Could Change the Indiana Secretary of State Race

Now, there’s a real danger libertarians may not if Greg Ballard is on the ballot. But all things being equal, I see zero universe where Greg Ballard would not get 2% of the vote if he is on the ballot. And that’s a good thing. Now, if Greg Ballard gets 10%, and because he’s on the ballot, which if Diego Morales is the nominee, by the way, I’ve still not heard back from Diego’s people. I sent the email to Diego Morales asking for an interview. If you’re going to reject me, that’s okay. At least put it in writing. By the way, I found another email because I get those spam emails from Diego. I have no idea how I got on his email list. I can assure you I’ve never asked to be on a Diego Morales email. Hey Diego, how’d you get my stuff? I’m going to send it to the other email that I have because I’m going to make them reject me. I’m going to make Diego’s people reject me. But there’s a real chance, if Diego Morales is the nominee for the Republicans, Greg Ballard will not only get the 10%, he’ll get well over 10%. And then you will have a third party with primary ballot access in our state.

Growing Frustration Over Limited Political Choice Fuels Support for Alternative Parties

And look, I’m not endorsing anyone. I’m not telling anybody to vote for anyone. When I decide who I’m going to vote for, I will do that. I’m not even in that universe close to it yet. I will tell you, though, that if you’re asked to sign that petition by the Ballard campaign, I would encourage you to do it. The more people that we have on our ballot, the more options we have, the more people being a part of the discussion. When you factor in how the Republicans and Democrats have gone out of their way to do everything in their power to keep people from running for public office, 80 plus percent, we’ll get into this with Rust coming up next segment, 80 plus percent of the people are ineligible to run for public office as a Republican or Democrat in Indiana. That’s not good. If we’re forced to pay for elections, we should be able to run in them. Hey, if you don’t want me to run in your party, don’t make me pay for your stuff. Right. Like that is the most you do you thing imaginable. It’s like my neighbors. As long as you keep your grass cut and your weeds chopped down and your trees reasonably trimmed, right. Like, I don’t expect it to be Better Homes and Gardens at your house and what you do in your own house, I don’t care as long as you’re not running a criminal ring in your house.