Indiana Republicans Fear Diego Morales Nomination Could Trigger Major Election Collapse and Third-Party Surge

I think the Republican machine in Indiana is dead set on renominating Diego Morales to be their secretary of state candidate. And I think the reason for this is a couple of things. Number one, I think it’s that outside of central Indiana, where the media doesn’t do a great job of covering the Statehouse, a lot of people have no idea about Diego Morales. I just think when you get outside about a 20 county area, the donut counties, the counties that surround them, there’s very little understanding of what a complete scumbag Diego Morales is. And I think in many places that end in Ville or Berg, he goes to these Lincoln Day dinners and he serves, he hands people their plates as they’re going through the buffet line, and he goes and shakes hands and he just gets away with it. I think people think he’s a totally likable, good person, because the media in these little towns and cities do not cover the repeated scandals that appear to be a part of Diego’s DNA. Now, the people in central Indiana, they know. They’re very aware. I mean, if you think back to 2022 and this was without four years of, well, what we call governance to talk about, and it’s been one scandal after another with Diego. But even four years ago, the people of central Indiana knew who Diego was. And that’s why Jeff Maurer, who was the Libertarian nominee for secretary of state, got almost 6% of the vote. Most of it came from central Indiana. In fact, he did about 10% in central Indiana because they were protest votes against Diego. The people who know Diego can’t stand Diego because they know what he is. Everybody who knows Diego knows what he is.

Indiana GOP Delegates Worry Diego Morales Could Become Political Liability

But when you couple the fact that there are so many of these areas that they don’t get informed about it, they don’t get the news about it, they don’t read the stories about it, with their county party chairman who are appointing delegates to the state convention who they know will vote for Diego. So the way this works is you guys know that people run for delegate. There are winners of those races, but in some counties they don’t get enough people to run. That’s not a problem here in central Indiana for the most part. It is a problem in a lot of other counties, especially the ones outside of central Indiana. And these county chairman, and even some here in central Indiana just based on how the counties are structured, the party chairman gets to appoint, essentially, whoever they want to fill those delegate slots. And a lot of those party chairmen are appointing people with the express purpose, you will vote for Diego.

Fundraising Networks and Political Influence Continue to Protect Morales

The reason these people like Diego, the people in the know like Diego, well, they don’t really like Diego, but stand behind Diego, is the money. Look at the money that touches Diego in a meaningful fashion. And then look at how much of that money goes to other prominent politicians in our state. You do the research on it. Our guy Indy Reporter has done that many times. In fact, we may have to have him back on to talk about the specifics of what I’m referencing here. It’s amazing how much of the money that flows into Diego Morales is also flowing to other prominent politicians, high profile, powerful people in the state of Indiana. The support of Diego is about money and the real concern that if Diego goes down, the money will be choked off, and it’s just easier not to deal with that premise, that prospect. But they all know what he is. And so my point of all this is I have received multiple calls over the past couple days of delegates from different counties not connected into each other, who are saying the same thing. What’s going to happen if this guy is the nominee? Because they recognize that while Diego may be able to fool the Republican electorate at the convention, or the people in the know may not want to take him on because they don’t want to lose the donations, the delegates who have some decency about them know that Bowe By, the likely Democrat nominee, is going to spend a war chest full of money, probably more than $10 million when it’s all said and done, plastering this state with ads about all the Diego scandals. You think the Bayhs don’t know who paid for that trip to India? You think they’re going to hesitate to tell everyone? You think the Bayhs aren’t going to mention, run ads about the no bid contracts of people who gave huge money to Diego’s campaign? You think they’re not going to mention the $90,000 car? You think they’re not going to mention the ad using taxpayer resources with the Marion County election that the Marion County Election Board has now referred to the inspector general, the hiring of family members, the sweetheart raises, all of this stuff? You guys know all about these things because you’re informed people. You think the Bayhs, look, the Bayhs aren’t losing this race, okay? They’ve had this plan for a long time. They’ve been plotting, getting junior in there for years and years and years. They didn’t fall off the turnip truck. Everybody knows what’s going on here. They are not going down. This is about reclaiming the family dynasty, and this is about bringing the Democrats back to some level of respectability, not prominence. I don’t think the Democrats are capable of prominence in this state anymore, but some level of respectability. Bowe By, if he wins this race, becomes the face of not only the Democrats in Indiana, but he becomes a player nationally. They’re not losing. And they will do whatever it takes and spend whatever amount of money it takes to get him in that office. You couple that with a very real prospect that Greg Ballard is going to get the 37,000 verified signatures and is going to be on the ballot. And Greg Ballard will also have, I mean, he’s already raised more than $300,000 and he’s not even on the ballot. 300 grand, and he isn’t even running for office yet. Greg Ballard easily going to raise seven figures, well over $1 million, probably several million dollars. And Greg Ballard will be running ads also talking about the incompetency and the corruption and the unethical behavior of Diego Morales. And Greg Ballard is going to run as a safe harbor for people who can’t stand Diego, but also won’t vote for a Democrat. And there’s a lot of really smart people who are delegates to the Republican convention in June in Fort Wayne who are hitting the panic button now because they know the odds are stacked in Diego Morales’ favor. I’ve heard it. I’ve heard it from so many people, in fact, that I wrote a whole article about it. I think it’s coming out tomorrow in the Star about just this, about the very real prospect of what happens if Diego Morales is the Republican nominee and the prospects are this. And I’ll go into a lot more detail on this in the article in The Star tomorrow.

Greg Ballard’s Lincoln Party Could Dramatically Reshape Indiana Elections

There’s two things at play with Ballard. They’re going to have lasting impacts on our state. Number one, if he gets 2% of the vote. Now of course he has to get the signatures first. But the fact that he was past 20,000 with two months to go, that’s a pretty good sign. He has enough money that’s been raised. He raised $300,000. It’s more than enough to pay the people to get the signatures, which that’s what he’s doing. He’s paying an organization to go out and get these signatures for him. I saw them the other day at the Walmart. People told me that they were at the Kroger and saw it too. So I mean, in Brownsburg, in Brownsburg, right? I’m sure they’re going to all these communities trying to get these signatures. And so you’re, I mean, I would be floored, floored, if Ballard does not end up on the ballot. And if Greg Ballard is not on the ballot, that would be a shocking embarrassment for the establishment wing of the Republican Party, who are the ones backing Ballard. There are some Democrats, too, but it is mostly the old order establishment people who are behind the Ballard campaign. I would be floored if those people would allow themselves to be embarrassed and he didn’t get those signatures. So I’m putting him on the ballot. And if Greg Ballard is on the ballot, there is not a universe that exists with, and again, we’re operating from a state where Diego’s the nominee. With all of these descriptions here, if by some chance Diego is not, then this all changes. But there’s not a universe where Greg Ballard is on the ballot and Diego Morales is on the ballot, and Greg Ballard doesn’t get 2% of the vote. There’s not a world that exists where that doesn’t happen. And what that means is the Lincoln Party, which Ballard is trying to form, will have general election ballot access, which means going forward in elections, just like the libertarians, provided the libertarians also get the 2% this year, you’ll have another party to choose from in the general elections. They’ll nominate their candidates privately at conventions like the libertarians do. But there’s a likelihood that Ballard not only gets the 2%, but that he blows past 10%. And that is what is really concerning the delegates. Because if Ballard gets the 10%, 10% means primary ballot access, it means in your primary when you go to pull a ballot, well, unless they close the primaries, which they’ll certainly try to do if the Lincoln Party has primary ballot access. But as of right now, if all things stay as they are when you go to vote in the primary, the lady at the clerk or the guy, the man, the clerk asks you, do you want a Republican or Democrat ballot? Now they would ask you, do you want a Republican, Democrat, or Lincoln Party ballot? The amount of earned, of subsidized advertising that the Lincoln Party would get having primary ballot access, in the tens of millions. And what that means is having primaries is free advertising, earned media. Media people cover you at your events, you’re running, you go places, etc. It would dramatically increase the quality of candidate that the Lincoln Party would be able to attract, and the amount of money they would be able to raise, and their standing with the electorate. And you’re looking at a 2028 where you could have the Lincoln Party on the ballot, primary ballot access, dramatically disrupting the races of governor, senator, attorney general and congressional candidates, all because Greg Ballard got the 10% in the secretary of state race, which you have to have to get primary ballot access. You’re talking about potentially getting some real players, people who they’re not going to run as libertarians because, and I love my libertarian friends, but you got a lot of squirrels in that party. There’s some really good libertarians. There’s some really nice libertarians that run for public office. I think Rainwater was a good candidate in 2020. I think Jeff Moore was a great candidate in 2022 for secretary of state. I think previous candidates like Mark Rutherford for secretary of state have done fine. But there’s a lot of squirrels and there’s a lot of people who under no circumstance are going to affiliate themselves with the Libertarian Party. They would, however, especially with primary ballot access, affiliate themselves with the Lincoln Party, with Ballard as the face. And so you’re looking at a very real world with Diego Morales and Greg Ballard, where the Lincoln Party pulls enough votes from Diego that the Lincoln Party gets that primary ballot access and for the next four years is able to disrupt Republicans up and down the ballot. These are what the delegates are telling me. I’m hearing it from people all over the state who are calling me talking about this. And again, these are people who think Diego’s going to win. We’ll talk about that here in a second. They’re petrified. The other reality, same thing I’m hearing from the delegates. If Ballard pulls more than 10%, the overwhelming majority of that is going to be from Republicans. Diego Morales won by 257,000 votes four years ago, and he did that, that’s not a lot of votes, guys, by the way. It’s not a lot of votes. It’s 129,000 people changing their mind, like if it were a two person race, 129,000 people changing their mind. It’s not that much in a state of 7 million people. And Diego only won by 257,000 votes with a highly unlikable, radical left Democrat who struggled to fundraise in Destiny Wells as the Democrat nominee. Destiny Wells, now a four time loser. She’s never been close. I mean, I guess she could technically say she was within a few votes when she ran for party chair, but there’s not many people that vote. Substitute Destiny Wells with a well-funded, moderate, non-controversial Bowe By, the name. Look, there’s a lot of people that will vote for him just because he’s a likable guy. He’s not controversial. Good looking dude. His last name’s By. People remember the By family fondly. There’s a lot of moderate Republicans who either would not think twice, even if Ballard doesn’t get on, voting for By. But certainly with By and Ballard in there, there’s a whole lot of Republicans or independents or people who just yearn for nostalgia who are going to vote either Democrat or for the independent. There’s a very real world where By wins the election without 45% of the vote. Wouldn’t shock me at all to see Bayh at 43, Diego at 40, Ballard at 15, Shillings, libertarian at two. I mean, I’m not using anything scientific. And I’m just saying, like, these are the conversations I’m hearing. And there are people calling me from all over the state who recognize there is a strong chance Diego is going to be the party’s nominee. And what that means, because they’re actually Republicans. These people actually want the Republicans to win. Me, I don’t really care anymore. I’m a Republican, but the Republicans, they go to the White House and they talk about closing the primaries. That’s what they do with their time. What does that do for me? The reality is the people that are Republicans who still care about the Republican Party, they know what Diego is. They know he will be exposed. They know that he can lie and manipulate his way and deceive his way through the delegates. He won’t be able to do that through By and Ballard. And so there is actively whispers about trying to find another candidate to run against Diego now. David Shelton is the primary competition for Diego. He’s the Knox County clerk. We’ve had Shelton on the show. Shelton would be a very good secretary of state. He has all the qualifications. He’s administered elections. He’s caught voters committing fraud. He’s done all the things. He’s perfectly qualified. He goes in, he does his job. He’s also boring as hell. And these people that I’ve talked to, the delegates, they’re actual delegates. They’ll be voting for Shelton. They’ve said, this guy doesn’t have the fire to take down Diego. With scumbags like Morales, you have to hit him in the mouth. Not literally. I mean, that would be really punching down. You don’t want to punch down. But from a political standpoint, you have to land body blows. You have to expose to the people who these people are, exactly what they’re doing. You have to say it everywhere you go. When you’re in a room with them, you got to look at him and you got to say it in front of everyone. All the stuff, and he melts down every time you do it. I know. All I did was walk up to the guy and talk to him without anybody paying attention. And then there was a whole group of people paying attention, and he freaked out at the Clay County Lincoln Day. He was so pissed off to the point when it was his time to speak to everyone, he starts screaming the stuff, right? I’ll pay for India, I’ll pay. And people are like, what the hell is this guy talking about? Like Clay County’s barely in WIBC’s listening area. Most people don’t have any idea what that is, but they do now. Diego melts down every time you press him. And these delegates see this, right? They know this. Shelton has not shown that fire so far at these Lincoln Days and these events. And again, this is what I’m hearing. I like David Shelton. I would have zero problem voting for him if I were a Republican delegate. I mean, I would vote for an orange peel over Diego. But my point is I want somebody who’s qualified. See, that’s the thing about all of these positions, treasurer, comptroller, secretary of state, their administrative positions, they’re not supposed to be political. Your job is to administer the will of the General Assembly, not go out and use your office as a 24 over seven campaign machine, not try to grab headlines, not waste taxpayer money, not be in the legalized vote buying business. Your job is to do the job the General Assembly says. It’s an administrative position.

Republicans Quietly Search for Alternative Candidates as Concerns Grow About Morales

And so right now, there are delegates out there who are actively trying to recruit other people. I think they’ve got some pretty good names. I don’t know whether those people say yes or not. I don’t know, they’re not really people who would talk to me, but I’ve heard this over and over again. So much so that I’m writing a pretty lengthy article. I think it’s supposed to come out tomorrow in the Star about what the next several months actually look like, and then what the future, the next four years, most importantly, look like if the Republicans stay with Diego Morales. And I think they’re going to. I think the Republicans are going to renominate Diego. Look, and I go into this in the article. It’ll be great for me. It’ll be great for my business, like having five months to talk about this guy and comment on the ads that Bayh and Ballard are going to run. Fabulous. It’ll be great for me as someone who believes we got to break up the cabal, the Republican cabal, I say this as a Republican. The Republicans are only going to change when they fear losing elections, and the only way they’ll fear losing elections is if they start losing elections. These people are arrogant, and the only way they’re going to lose is if we have a viable third party in there to start peeling off some votes when Republicans don’t govern like Republicans. So I’ve told people everyone should sign that petition. I’m not telling you to vote for Ballard. I’m not endorsing Ballard. I have no idea who I’m going to vote for. I want to see the campaign. But everyone should totally sign that petition if you get asked to get him on the ballot. I’m fine with Diego being the nominee from a job standpoint. I’m actually fine with Diego being the nominee from a what will be the best thing for the long term standpoint. But as someone who loves my state, as someone who is a lifelong Hoosier who cares about Indiana and good government far more than my job, clearly we found that out, right, the faster you can get rid of Diego Morales, the better. And if the Republicans can do it at convention, good on them. That guy is a human sleazebag, and the Republican Party appears to just be saying, give me more of it.