Indiana Secretary of State Diego Morales struck back Tuesday at a fellow Republican officeholder who has called for Morales to resign.
Morales has lost campaign supporters and staff in his reelection bid since a top aide to U.S. Sen. Jim Banks entered the race last week for the Republican nomination that will be decided at the state party convention in less than a month.
Morales sent a text message Tuesday morning to Republican convention delegates in which he accused State Treasurer Daniel Elliott of making a “blatantly 𝗙𝗔𝗟𝗦𝗘 and politically motivated attack on me and my office.”
While Banks and other prominent Republicans rescinded endorsements of Morales last week in favor of Banks staffer Max Engling, Elliott went further and called for Morales to resign immediately.
Morales defends staffer hiring
Elliott cited controversy with the hiring of Elina Kupce as the secretary of state office’s chief of staff and whether she had been illegally registered to vote as a noncitizen many years before joining Morales’ staff in 2023. She didn’t vote and the registration was canceled in 2013.
She left Morales’ office April 29.
Morales’ text message punched back at Elliott while saying nothing about his lost endorsement from Banks and state Attorney General Todd Rokita.
Morales’ campaign text defended hiring Kupce — and the secretary of state’s office released a statement Tuesday saying she had cleared pre-employment checks from the State Personnel Department and was legally authorized to work for the office.
Immigrants can be legally in the country without being a citizen.
“Mr. Elliott either does not know hiring procedures of Indiana State Government or willfully took a cheap shot at me in a text someone wrote for him to score political points and tarnish our record of success for the people of Indiana and the integrity of our elections,” said the Morales text, which a delegate provided to the Indiana Capital Chronicle.
Elliott’s campaign did not immediately reply to a request for comment Tuesday.
Fight for Republican delegate support
Morales is fighting to secure delegate support ahead of the June 20 state Republican convention, seeking a repeat of his 2022 nomination win.
He’s been challenged for much of the past year by Knox County Clerk David Shelton and conservative activist Jamie Reitenour. But his campaign was upended last week with the entry of Engling — a senior adviser and regional director in Banks’ Senate office — the day before the candidate filing deadline.
Engling is largely unknown to the public and gained little attention two years ago when he unsuccessfully challenged U.S. Rep. Victoria Spartz for the Republican nomination in Indiana’s 5th Congressional District, finishing third in the primary with about 10% of the vote.
Engling has not responded to multiple interview requests from the Capital Chronicle over the past week.
Besides the erosion of prominent endorsements, Morales has lost campaign staff support.
Blair Englehart, whose marketing firm Englehart Group had been working for Morales, told the Capital Chronicle on Monday that he had resigned as the campaign’s spokesman but did not answer questions about his decision.
Morales and previous campaign staffers did not reply Tuesday to messages seeking comment on the turnover.
Morales’ text message to delegates claimed he was “being targeted by political insiders and power-brokers” because he supported President Donald Trump’s unsuccessful push last year for Indiana congressional redistricting — despite Banks and Rokita being among the most vocal supporters of redrawing the congressional maps.
Morales’ message called Elliott a “close ally” of fellow Morgan County resident state Senate President Pro Tem Rod Bray and linked Elliott to Bray’s opposition to the redistricting plan. Morales repeated his determination to stay in the race.
“This is nothing more than political retribution for me standing with our great President against those who fiercely opposed him,” Morales said. “Let me say this loud and clear, I will always choose to do what’s right for the people of Indiana and no political pressure or politically motivated attacks on me or my office will persuade me from doing what’s right, not now, not ever.”
Reporter Jack Forrest contributed to this report.
Indiana Capital Chronicle is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Indiana Capital Chronicle maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Niki Kelly for questions: info@indianacapitalchronicle.com.
