Diego Morales

"Within a 24-hour period last week, the landscape of the Indiana secretary of state's race dramatically shifted for both Republicans and Democrats.

The fact that Diego Morales hired an immigrant legally in the US but not a citizen in his office was the last straw according to top Republican officials, including US Senator Jim Banks, AG Ro- Rokita, and Treasurer Daniel Elliot.

Banks immediately found a candidate he preferred instead, convincing Max Engling, who worked for Banks, to enter the race.

A cascade of support then magically appeared overnight for Engling, a second-time candidate and relative unknown who lived and worked in DC for more than a decade before moving back to Indiana in 2023.

Uh, but I will be paying close attention, and I will be reporting everything to you guys.

Uh, let's look at our candidates and what we know about them.

So Diego Morales, obviously, scandal after scandal after scandal.

Uh, people can deny it all they want.

Mm.

And, you know, um, Max Engling, you know, continued to, uh, rest back on, like, this is I am going to, uh, you know, remove all the corruption that we saw under Diego Morales, the c- current secretary of state, and, you know, improve that office because I will be coming in.

Um, still pretty light in terms of policy, what he actually wants to do.

Um, and Bo Baie is also trying to, you know, go back and say, "I'm going to fix what's been wrong with this office." Um, and also interestingly, you know, not really trying to s- stay away from, you know, saying Democrat, I am the Democratic candidate too much.

News 8's Garrett Berquist was in the room and tells us more.

All four candidates say they want some kind of review into how current Secretary of State Diego Morales ran the office.

One says he wants to get law enforcement involved.

Independent candidate Greg Ballard says he's already talking to law enforcement officials about possible investigations into the office.