(INDIANAPOLIS) – Indiana Republicans will have two four-way contests to complete their statewide ticket at their convention next week.
1,802 delegates from across Indiana will gather at the Indiana State Fairgrounds June 18 to choose the party’s nominees for treasurer and secretary of state. Newton County Commissioner Kyle Conrad dropped his bid for secretary of state, but three other Republicans are challenging incumbent Holli Sullivan’s bid for a full term.
Governor Holcomb named Sullivan last year to the post last year after the resignation of Secretary of State Connie Lawson. Sullivan faces opposition from Knox County Clerk David Shelton; Paul Hager, who lost a Republican bid for the Indiana House in 2004 after three runs for office as a Libertarian; and former congressional candidate Diego Morales, who’s questioned the legitimacy of the 2020 presidential election.
State Treasurer Kelly Mitchell is barred from running for a third term. Four candidates have been running for months to replace her: former state party spokesman Pete Seat, Morgan County party chairman Daniel Elliott, Boone County Council president Elise Nieshalla, and Fort Wayne City Clerk Lana Keesling.
If no one gets a majority of delegates on the first ballot, the last-place candidate is eliminated and everyone votes again. The same thing happens on the second ballot.
It’s the fourth time in five elections Republicans have had a contested convention race, and the second straight to feature a challenge to an incumbent. In 2020, Attorney General Curtis Hill led on the first two ballots but fell short of a majority. He lost the nomination on the final ballot to Todd Rokita, who went on to win in November.
The convention marks a return to in-person balloting after a 2020 election held remotely due to the pandemic. Balloting that year was conducted through instant-runoff ranked-choice voting, a method Hager is proposing for all Indiana elections.
State auditor Tera Klutz is unopposed for a second full term.
The winner of the secretary of state race will face Democrat Destiny Wells and Libertarian Jeffrey Maurer. Democrats say they have candidates for treasurer and auditor, but haven’t disclosed who they are.
