Indiana Republican Secretary of State Convention Turns Chaotic as New Challenger Max Engling Emerges Against Diego Morales

There is a new candidate in the Indiana Secretary of State’s race on the Republican side. His name is Max Engling. He currently serves as, I think he’s currently serving as an aide to Jim Banks. And he ran for Congress, I believe that was in 2024 in Hamilton County. In the primary with, was it Hamilton County? I think that’s right. He ran for Congress. I think it was in the Hamilton County primary with the one with Victoria Spartz and Chuck Goodrich. And he was not successful. He is young. He is super interesting because he works for Banks.

New Republican Challenger Max Engling Enters Heated Indiana Secretary of State Race

Well, Banks has endorsed Diego. So what happens with that? Now, look, here’s what I know. I can say this now, I alluded this a little bit last week. I got multiple phone calls last week from delegates saying we have to get someone who can beat Diego. And my response was, well, what about Shelton? I said, Shelton is by far the most qualified person. And they said, he’s too boring. I said, I’ve been saying that for months and months and months and years. David Shelton is like the perfect guy to be Secretary of State because he is so boring. He is no drama. He’s obsessed with elections. He’s a clerk in Knox County. Like he is the perfect guy to be the Secretary of State. There would be no drama with David Shelton. The guy lives, eats, breathes, sleeps elections. You Republicans would be so right to pick a qualified person. But we can’t have that in the Republican Party. We can’t have that. We can’t have a boring Republican hold an office who’s super qualified. And they say, no, I agree, Rob, but he’s too boring. He can’t win at the convention. He can’t move the delegates. We got to get somebody else. I said, well, sounds like a personal problem to you guys. I’m not a delegate, by the way. I’m going to ask for the media pass again this year. Do we think the Republicans will block me from covering their state convention? What do we think when I apply for the media pass to go to Fort Wayne to cover the Republican state convention? Do we think the Republicans will ban me from covering the convention? What do you guys think? Let me know in the YouTube chat.

Republican Delegates Continue Searching for Candidate Who Can Defeat Diego Morales

So this person asked me, well, what do you think we should do? I was like, well, if I were you guys, I would just get behind Shelton because I don’t think anybody good is going to want it. And you’re gonna start splitting the vote up. But in lieu of you not getting behind Shelton or telling Shelton, like, shock him with a, electrocute him or something and get him a pulse, so start bringing smoke. You know, the one time Shelton brought smoke was on our show when he was a guest here a few weeks ago, he was bringing heat. I was like, you should do that everywhere you go. Everywhere you should go. You should look at Diego Morales and point at him and go, that guy is a liar. That guy’s a con man. That guy’s a fraudster. You didn’t pay for India. Who paid? Who pay? That should have been on the shirt. You should wear that at convention. See, that’s what I would have done. Who pay? I told Shelton even, I was like, Shelton, you’re so boring. I will introduce you at convention. I think I even said it on the show. I was like, I will introduce you. I will bring the pulse you do not have because we’ve got to get rid of Diego. If you feel like you’re down, let me introduce you. And I will just rip and roast and shred Diego for five minutes or whatever I’ve got. And then I’ll be like, oh, yeah, here’s David Shelton. And the offer still stands. The offer still stands. But multiple people were calling me about this and they were asking me like, who do you think should run? I was like, I don’t like any of these people. Haven’t you people figured this out by now? And they don’t like me. Well, there has to be somebody you like. No, no, no. And I told one person this. I said, I’m out of the endorsement game. Ain’t no blaming Rob Kendall for any candidate ever again. Micah and Braun, that was it. Micah and Braun were the last straw. You ain’t never going to blame Rob Kendall ever again, because all I got for years was, Rob never talks about what he’s for. Rob never talks about who he’s behind. Rob never talks about. It’s always negative. And so the one time I was like, all right, all right, against all my better judgment, I’m going to be for somebody. And now everybody’s mad. Well, Braun and Micah are your fault. So I said, I’m not playing that game. You know, I told one person, I really hope they went down this rabbit hole. You know what I told one person? That they should call Tony Katz. I was like, Katz always talks about wanting to be a politician. Call Katz. Ask him to run. Tell him you think he’d be a great Secretary of State. I don’t know if they did or not, but this kid’s name kept coming up from multiple people, this Max Engling. And I was like, I don’t know. You know my theory, an aged potato skin would be better than Diego. I think the Republicans had the perfect guy in Shelton. And by the way, this is my point about this Max Engling guy. I’ve met him a couple times. He seems very nice. He’s not exactly Mick Jagger up there on stage. He’s young, good looking dude. Works for Banks. The problem with working for Banks is Banks endorsed Diego. Is Banks going to pull a Trump and endorse? I mean, what does this guy offer that Shelton wasn’t offering? I know he got prodded into running. I got the phone calls from multiple people. His name came up in all the conversations. These people aren’t connected. So I know he got prodded into running, but what does he bring? Like, what if the vote is an anti-Diego vote? Like Max Engling is not going to be strutting down the catwalk. He’s not going to be. Wow. Look at the magnanimous nature of Max Engling. Nothing against Max. Fine guy. Very nice. Probably maybe competent, I don’t know. But was Banks, which is your real thing? I mean, the guy ran for Congress. He didn’t win. Clearly he ain’t in Congress. What’s the selling point here? And I don’t know, is the theory like two guys beating up on Diego is better than one? Are Shelton and Engling going to come to an agreement of, hey, whichever one of us. So here’s how convention works, guys. Oh, this would be a great chance for me to explain how the convention works. So when you go to the Republican convention, if you’re a candidate for statewide office, now, maybe it’ll change this time. Normally there’s, so the delegates, I’m getting off here a little bit. I didn’t know I was going to do this today. So I’m doing all this from just on the fly here. The delegates are the ones who decide, I don’t know what the number is. I think it’s 1800 or something like that. And you’ve got to get a majority of the delegates, whatever that number is. So 50% plus one of the people who vote each time. Now that’s key. I’ll come back to that in a second. Of the people who vote each time, you have to get 50% plus one. If, and someone can correct me if I make any mistakes on this, you say, Rob, you screw this up, I’ll gladly correct it. I’m doing all this from memory off the top of my head because again, I didn’t know this was going to happen. It just happened. So you go the day of convention, you have supporters that are there for you. They greet the people as they’re coming in, they’re wearing shirts, they’re handing out brochures. It’s a lot of fun. Unless you have a candidate you’re supporting. It’s a nightmare. If you have a candidate you’re supporting, you’re nervous, you’re trying to judge people’s body language. How do they accept your information? How do they greet you like all that. But as a spectator, it’s a lot of fun. And then the convention starts. They go through party business. And then in the contested races, of which right now there’s only one, the treasurer and the comptroller, which are, God, I did it again. The treasurer. What the hell’s his name? We have him on the show. I did this last time. Elise Nieshalla, she’s the comptroller. I did this the last time. What the hell’s the. Have you ever had that? Where it’s like a guy staring you right in the face? You know the guy? He’s been on our show. I actually like him. He does a good job. And then, like, you’ve ever had that with people? You’re like, the guy’s just staring at you. And you can see him being very angry that. The state treasurer for the state of Indiana, he voted against the Bears stuff. It’s like if we were doing the game where you got to get the, they’re describing things to you. Anyway, doesn’t matter. Like just Google state treasurer Indiana, show up anyway. They’ll be put into the nominating process. Daniel Elliot. Thank God, that’s horrible. I’ve done it twice. I’ve done it twice now. Daniel. Oh, God, I am slipping. You guys ever have that where it’s like, you know someone? It’s not even like you remember that guy I knew years ago? What was his name, Margie? You remember? No. Like I know the guy. Like he’ll call me every so often. Well, I didn’t know I needed notes on this. Like, Daniel’s a wonderful guy. Very nice, very nice guy. I think we talk every so often. Like that’s twice now. I did that last week. And then I thought of his name where it’s like there’s some block. I’m like seeing his face. I’m seeing him sitting on the couch next to me doing the interview. That’s horrible. Sorry, Daniel Elliot, I am sorry that I forgot your name. It’s like a blank. And then you know what happens. Here’s what happens, guys. You start panicking. Like internally, you’re like, you’re mad at yourself and then your brain just isn’t functioning properly. Daniel Elliott. Anyway, Elliott initially, their nominee, their nominations will be put into place. They’ll be accepted. There’s no challenger then for the candidates where there are challengers, they get an opportunity to address the delegates one last time. And usually it’s a three part thing. I think there’s a video they have like a big jumbotron or whatever, you know, projector. They show the video. It’s a produced video. They then have somebody that introduces the candidate. They could speak for 3 to 4 minutes and then the candidate gets up and gives a speech, you know, five minutes or whatever about vote for me. After all of that, all the candidates get an opportunity to do that. Then the delegates go vote, just like you would vote on Election Day. There’s like little booths. You have to show, I think you have to show your ID. You sign in, you vote. It’s a machine. Just like Election Day. The votes are tallied at the first vote. If somebody does not get 50% plus one of the total votes cast, I believe there is a second vote. They give everybody an opportunity to vote again after the second vote. Again, if nobody gets 50% plus one, then the person who gets last has to drop out. It’s like if there’s three people running, let’s say it’s Diego and it’s Shelton and it’s Engling. Let’s say Engling gets last. He then drops out and then there is another vote. And at that point, then somebody, if there’s two candidates, would have to get 50% plus one. So Engling or whoever gets last would then typically let their supporters know, because there’s a window before everybody goes and votes, who would I like you to vote for? Doesn’t mean they have to. Doesn’t mean they’re obligated to. But he would give some sort of endorsement. Which one would assume, based on the fact that he’s running, that endorsement would be Diego or obviously Shelton. Same way.

Indiana GOP Convention Voting Process Could Become Critical in Three-Way Contest

So let’s think about this. Like logically, what does this do? Even if this guy doesn’t win, he brings a lot of attention to someone else’s running for Secretary of State and why that is. Hey, Max Engling is running. Who? Why? Well, he’s a guy. Why is he running? Well, one would assume he would make a very viable case. And, Max, little advice from Uncle Rob here. Don’t be a wimp like Shelton. And I love Shelton. I think Shelton’s uber qualified. I would be tickled pink if Shelton were the winner. Don’t be a wimp. People want the smoke. They want the smoke at that convention. You look at everyone and you, and I don’t care that Banks is your boss. If he still is your boss, I think he still works for Banks. You want to win? Tell everybody Diego didn’t pay for India. Demand to know who did. When you meet with these delegates, you tell them what Diego is. You tell them he went to a foreign country for ten days, and he won’t tell anyone who paid for it. Oh, and while he was there, his buddy Raju, who has a contract with Diego’s office or had a contract with Diego’s office and went on the trip with Diego, was bragging about selling visas in the same city Diego reportedly met with the mayor. Tell him, tell these people in Ville and Berg and these far flung corners of the state who Diego gets away with his BS because he smiles real pretty at the Lincoln Day and hands them a plate as they go through the buffet line, tell them about the brother in law. Tell them about the $90,000 car. Tell them about the no bid contracts to donors to the campaign. Tell them about, depending on, you’ll have plenty of time now, how this allegation that potentially Diego had a noncitizen as his deputy chief of staff, according to the reporting from Abdul. Max, if you ain’t going to do that, I don’t know why you’re running. You’re just gonna embarrass yourself. But the lane is there. Clearly, there are huge group of delegates who can’t stand Diego Morales, want him out of there at all costs because they recognize and this is the thing with Rob, right? Everybody always Rob this shock jock that Rob just does stuff for ratings or clicks or listens. Those delegates know. And some of these people who called me said they knew that stuff I wrote in the Star. I don’t care what publication it was in. Everybody knows it’s real. If Diego’s the nominee, who’s it help? It helps Ballard, and it helps By. If Diego’s the nominee, all that scenario I wrote about is exactly what’s likely to play out. Ballard blows past 10%, which means there’s a new political party with primary ballot access who hate the Trump and conservatives. That’s the old order. It’s going to get that ballot access. And Bowe By becomes the secretary of state. You can badmouth old Uncle Rob all you want, but the fact is that this kid’s in the race now who was recruited. And I know the people that were doing the recruiting, they did it because I was right. Diego is a piece of trash and everyone knows it. At least the people that are in the know know it.

Growing Concerns Over Morales Controversies Threaten Republican General Election Strategy

If you’re Shelton, man, it’s kind of an indictment of your campaign. It’s an indictment. And look, Shelton still got time to do it. To start bringing the heat. Make this election. It’s not about competency, David. It’s about Diego Morales. And the fact that we probably even haven’t scratched the surface on the crap that guy’s pulled. You guys, Max and David, you guys have two, you have a month. Spend the next month. Every person you talk to, every event you go to, you want to win. I know these people. You want to win. You make every conversation about everything we’ve been talking about for years with Diego Morales. And until this woman surfaces and reveals where she is and that she is indeed a citizen of this country, you make that the issue too. Diego’s refusal to provide any sort of evidence or put this thing to rest. Now, maybe she surfaces today and goes, Abdul’s an idiot. I’m clearly a citizen. And here’s my proof. And Abdul can go, you know what, himself. And boy, boy. As much as Diego hates Abdul, like there’s the only person Diego may hate more than me is Abdul. He could make Abdul look so bad, so, so bad. And yet. Silence, man. This convention just got wild. What do we think? They won’t let me go? I mean, I’ve always been very fair and polite and well-behaved at the conventions I’ve been at. I mean, that would be a massive story if they banned me from covering the convention. I mean, I’ve always been very well behaved at every convention I’ve ever been to. Now, they probably got mad at the one two years ago because I was a bigger star than the candidates. But I’m not working for anybody at this one, or I’m not there on behalf of anyone at this one. I’ll be there just to cover it and observe. And they’ll probably still be mad because I’ll be a star. But that’s neither here nor there.