INDIANAPOLIS – Former Mike Pence aide Diego Morales has won the Republican nomination for secretary of state in Indiana — an office documents show he once was fired from — defeating incumbent Holli Sullivan.
Sullivan’s loss is a major blow to the so-called establishment wing of the party, and yet another sign that Gov. Eric Holcomb’s influence is dwindling in his second term. Holcomb had appointed Sullivan in March 2021 after then-Secretary of State Connie Lawson announced her retirement.
Holcomb was notably absent from the convention Saturday, speaking on Friday night instead.
Historically running as the incumbent would have given Sullivan a clear path to victory. But with some frustration within the Republican party over Holcomb’s handling of the pandemic and other policy choices, her ties to the establishment hurt her campaign more than they helped as she faced three other candidates.
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Morales will face Democrat Destiny Wells, a U.S. Army Reserve lieutenant colonel and former deputy attorney general, and Libertarian Jeff Maurer on the November general election ballot.
“I’m a lifelong proud Republican,” Morales told media after his victory. “My job right now is to unite everyone so we can win in November, all the races.”
The state GOP also selected its nominee for state auditor and treasurer during Saturday’s party convention, choosing current Auditor Tera Klutz for the party’s nominee for auditor and Daniel Elliott, the chair of the Morgan County Republican Party, for treasurer.
Elliott, another socially conservative candidate who was popular among anti-establishment Republicans, won by three votes on the third round of voting, beating out three other candidates. He will face Democrat Jessica McClellan, the Monroe County treasurer in November.
Klutz ran unopposed for the Republican nomination and will face Democrat ZeNai Brooks, a CPA and controller at Cummins, in the general election.
The delegates also overwhelmingly voted to approve the Indiana Republican Party 2022 platform, which included new language criticizing the teaching of critical race theory in schools, clarifying the belief that “pornographic material” doesn’t belong in the classroom and emphasizing Republicans’ belief that transgender girls should not participate in girls sports.
The addition of more socially conservative concepts is a departure from the platform fights of four years ago when delegates were instead considering moving away from certain social issues by debating the removal of language labeling strong families as ones that are “based on marriage between a man and a woman.” The attempts to remove the language ultimately failed.
How Diego Morales won
Four candidates vied for the secretary of state nomination in what became an unusually messy and pricy convention fight. Morales defeated both Sullivan and Knox County Clerk David Shelton in the second round of voting, claiming 52.19% of the ballots. Sullivan received 34.57% of the vote and Shelton received 13.25%.
Paul Hager, a former Libertarian candidate, was eliminated after the first vote because he had the least amount of votes.
Morales was able to best Sullivan and the two other candidates in part due to the relationships he’s built: he’s been a consistent face in the party and a regular at Lincoln Day Dinners across the state. He traveled to all 92 counties since he entered the race in 2020. Those relationships matter in a convention race with fewer than 1,800 people — all heavily invested in politics — voting.
He primarily garnered the support of the more conservative faction of the party, capitalizing on discontent with Holcomb and those associated with him.
“My loyalty is not to anybody, but to you the people,” Morales said during a speech to delegates before the vote.
Morales’ campaign centered around the idea that he embodied the “American dream.”
Morales immigrated to the U.S. from Guatemala when he was a senior in high school and served in the National Guard before landing various roles within state government, including a couple of stints in the secretary of state office and as an aide for then Gov. Mike Pence.
“If you don’t believe that the American dream is still alive and well, just look at my little life,” Morales said in his acceptance speech. “You can be anything if you are willing to work hard and sacrifice.”
His history with the secretary of state’s office, though, could be a liability in the general election, giving Democrats a better shot at competing in a statewide race.
Morales worked for then-Secretary of State Todd Rokita as a special assistant for just under eight months in 2009 before the administration drafted a work improvement plan, personnel file documents show. Just before the formal document was presented, Morales put in two weeks’ notice that he planned to resign and refused to sign the plan.
About a week later he was terminated for “incomplete event planning and management,” “inefficient execution of assigned deliverables” and “lack of focus on strategy and planning.” The office also cited his “lack of professionalism.”
In 2011, under then-Secretary of State Charlie White, Morales was presented with a work improvement plan within one month of starting the job, due to “poor execution of required daily tasks” and “incomplete event planning and management.” Once again, he refused to sign the form. He resigned one day later to pursue “new experiences.”
Morales previously called the documents smear campaign tactics.
“Anybody can you write you up at any time, because their envy, selfish office rivalry, whatever you may want to call it. That’s exactly what happened,” Morales told IndyStar, referring to the personnel documents showing he was fired. “I have no control of that.”
Almost immediately after his nomination, state Democrats released a statement pointing to Morales’ past termination from the secretary of state’s office.
“This is what Indiana Democrats mean when we say the Indiana Republican Party has no plans for Indiana’s future – just extreme partisanship,” said Drew Anderson, a spokesman for the Indiana Democratic Party.
Speaking to media after his nomination, Morales said he would like to see the number of early voting days cut in half to be more efficient with taxpayer money. He campaigned on a plan to implement statewide audits after every election and require those wishing to vote absentee by mail to attach a copy of their photo ID.
Call IndyStar reporter Kaitlin Lange at 317-432-9270 or email her at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter: @kaitlin_lange.
