Indiana Democrats chose Beau Bayh as their secretary of state nominee Saturday, sending the first-time candidate — with one of the state’s most recognizable political names — into a race that party leaders see as their best opportunity for a statewide seat in more than a decade.

Bayh defeated challenger Blythe Potter at the Indiana Democratic Convention after delegates gathered at the Indiana Convention Center to choose the party’s nominee for the November election.

Bayh earned 61% of delegate votes — 1,385 votes to Potter’s 883, according to convention results. Party officials said 2,269 delegates cast ballots Saturday afternoon, with one blank ballot submitted.

“Hoosiers are ready for something different, something better. They’re tired of insider dealing, they’re tired of the corruption. That’s why I’m going to open an independent audit to root that out on day one,” Bayh told reporters after winning the nomination.

“I’m going to be the type of leader in state government that, regardless of whether or not I’ve had the same exact life experience of someone else, is going to try and unify people around what we do have in common, which is our shared identity as Americans and our love of this state.”

The victory sends the attorney and former Marine Corps infantry officer into a general election contest that Democrats hope can capitalize on mounting Republican turmoil surrounding incumbent Secretary of State Diego Morales and an increasingly tumultuous GOP nomination fight.

Democrats also formally nominated Jessica Bailey for state comptroller and Coumba Kebe for state treasurer. Both were uncontested.

‘We are going to win’

The secretary of state contest was the convention’s most closely watched race, pitting Bayh — the son of former governor and U.S. senator Evan Bayh and grandson of former U.S. Sen. Birch Bayh — against Potter, a veteran of the Iraq War and Bargersville business owner who built support among grassroots activists and first-time delegates.

In the weeks leading up to the convention, delegates repeatedly described the race as a choice between competing visions for how Indiana Democrats should pursue statewide victories.

Supporters argued that Bayh offered the party its strongest chance to hold statewide office again, pointing to his fundraising strength, name recognition and ability to appeal to voters beyond the Democratic base.

Potter supporters, meanwhile, took a more grassroots approach, arguing that the party needed a more progressive strategy to energize voters and build support among Hoosiers who have become disengaged from politics.

She told delegates in her pre-vote address that her top priority, if elected, “will be protecting Hoosier voters and challenging barriers that Republicans have put in their way.” Doing so would include “dramatically” expanded voter education programs, non-partisan voter guides and working with county clerks to increase turnout.

“Indiana Republicans have done everything in their power to drive away voting and voters’ rights. I will do everything in my power to stop them,” Potter said.

“We cannot engage with voters by doing things the same way we’ve always done with them,” she continued. “Hoosiers are asking our state for change — asking our country for change. And we cannot be the party of change if you continue to do things the same old way.”

Bayh entered the convention with a substantial fundraising advantage. Campaign finance reports showed he had nearly $1.9 million on hand at the end of the first quarter, compared to roughly $66,600 for Potter.

Throughout his campaign, Bayh centered his message on restoring trust in an office he said had been damaged by controversy under Morales. He has pledged to conduct an independent audit of the Secretary of State’s office, expand voter participation and increase transparency in state government.

He has also emphasized election security measures, including support for Indiana’s voter identification requirements.

“We are going to win. Not just because everyone in this room wants it to be true and will work like hell to make it true … but because Hoosiers are demanding change. Because Hoosiers are ready for something different, something better,” Bayh said in his address before delegates cast their ballots. “We are ready for honest government and we are ready for accountability.”

Convention Chair Robin Winston emphasized that — regardless of the nominee — members of Indiana’s Democratic Party “are more alike than we are unalike.” He pointed, for example, to the party’s cohesion on civil liberties for immigrants, Hoosiers’ access to healthcare, better working conditions for teachers and support for union jobs.

“Our job and our fight is not in this room,” he told delegates. “Our job today is to nominate canid for this winning in November.”

The road to November

The Democratic nominee now advances to a general election campaign that’s likely to heat up even more ahead of November.

Morales, elected in 2022, has faced increasing scrutiny over his office management, including spending of state dollars, hiring decisions and no-bid contracting deals.

The controversies prompted several prominent Indiana Republicans — including U.S. Sen. Jim Banks and Attorney General Todd Rokita — to withdraw support for Morales last month and encourage him to step aside.

Republican delegates will choose their own nominee June 20 at the state GOP convention in Fort Wayne. Morales faces challenges from Max Engling, David Shelton and Jamie Reitenour.

“I assume you will agree with me that it is fundamentally wrong for a secretary of state to buy a luxury vehicle, to bring people in his family on payroll, have no-bid contracts, and think that he’s an economic development official,” Winston said Saturday afternoon. “That is fundamentally wrong,” Winston said.

Former Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard is also seeking to run as an independent in the race.

Karen Glowacki, a Democratic delegate from Hamilton County, told the Indiana Capital Chronicle that Bayh “has the strategic vision and the integrity to bring our state together.”

“We have a real opportunity, I think, for the first time in a very long time to put a Democrat in state leadership,” Glowacki said after Saturday’s convention.

White County delegate Martha Osten — who previously campaigned for Bayh’s father and grandfather — expressed similar confidence in the younger Democrat.

“I believe that he truly wants to do what’s best for the people of Indiana, and he comes from a long line of public servants, as do I,” she continued. “I just admire him and respect him for doing the same and carrying on the family legacy, as well as his dad and grandfather served us well, and I really believe he has the heart to do so, as well.”

The post Beau Bayh defeats Blythe Potter for Democratic secretary of state nomination appeared first on News Now Warsaw.

“Optically horrible.” A “hard no.” In “bad form.”

Hoosier leaders might be busy taking behind-the-scenes feedback on the prospect of early redistricting, but rank-and-file Republicans are increasingly going public with their opposition.

Statehouse lawmakers redraw districts after each decennial census. They last did so in 2021, and population data shows little change since then.

Indiana Democrats, meanwhile, are joining forces with their Texan counterparts to protest the move, just days after they led hundreds of Hoosiers in a rally to oppose early redistricting.

President Donald Trump is pushing Texas and other GOP-led states like Indiana to redistrict ahead of the 2026 midterm elections to ensure a Republican majority in the U.S. House of Representatives for the rest of his second term.

“On one hand, we feel unlikely as a candidate to approach redistricting. We’ve got seven out of our nine congressional districts (that) are solidly Republican,” said Laura Merrifield Wilson, a political science professor at the University of Indianapolis. “… You would think you would go after states where you get more than one.”

Democratic U.S. Rep. Frank Mrvan holds the state’s most competitive congressional district, located in northwest Indiana. The heavily Democratic, Indianapolis district held by Rep. André Carson would be a tougher flip.

But, Wilson said, that GOP strength is also what makes Indiana an “appealing” target from the federal perspective: a “very amenable, very friendly” executive in Gov. Mike Braun and legislative supermajorities in both of the Statehouse’s chambers.

[caption id="attachment_116044" align="alignright" width="400"] ndiana’s existing congressional district boundaries.[/caption]

“You’re looking at a state where you could reasonably get the support you need,” she added.

That’s if lawmakers actually want to do it.

Rank-and-file Republicans speak out

Gov. Mike Braun has stayed noncommittal on the possibility he’d call a special session for early redistricting. The next legislative session is set to organize for only one day in late November before coming back in January — possibly too late to finalize maps by February candidate filing deadlines. He’s looking to Texas — and Indiana’s own lawmakers.

The Indiana General Assembly has complete control in redrawing district lines. There’s no nonpartisan commission. A gubernatorial veto can be overturned with a simple majority votes.

House Speaker Todd Huston and Senate President Pro Tem Rodric Bray, who lead Republican supermajorities in the state’s House and Senate, haven’t yet made their stances clear. But members are.

Multiple have described themselves as a “hard no,” including Reps. Danny Lopez of Carmel and Jim Lucas of Seymour.

“Just a few years ago, our General Assembly undertook the complex redistricting process based on up-to-date census data, drawing fair maps that ensure every Hoosier vote counts,” Lopez, who took office last year, wrote on X. “We should stand by that work.”

Lucas called the possibility “highly unusual and politically optically horrible.”

“I don’t believe Republicans should stoop to the level of Democrats on this issue. Republicans hold about 90% of all local offices statewide and once the voter rolls get purged of illegals, we will hold an even more commanding lead,” he wrote on Facebook. “Democrats can’t compete with their Socialist policies and ideology and if there are seats that need targeted, we should do it the old-fashioned way and campaign harder in those districts.”

Mooresville Rep. Craig Haggard emphasized that Indiana is a “solid Republican state” that has gone for Trump three times in a statement to the Capital Chronicle on Monday. He added that he’s been “hearing from constituents and I do not believe at this time there is an appetite for redistricting in our communities.”

WEHT reported that Wadesville Sen. Jim Tomes doesn’t think redistricting is needed right now because the lines are fairly drawn. He similarly noted the GOP is in good shape for the midterms.

Wilson believes the risks are more severe for GOP legislators as opposed to Braun.

They “don’t want to be seen as anti-Trump,” but are “maybe most vulnerable (to) the criticism” since they’d be handling any redistricting legislation — and attaching their names to it.

Former GOP House Speaker Brian Bosma said he’s “glad” lawmakers are speaking up.

He oversaw the 2011 redistricting that involved hearing from constituents in nine different cities before crafting new maps, and was in the General Assembly through three redistricting cycles in all. He recalled how, as a brand-new floor leader in 1995, he resisted efforts to redraw Statehouse districts early.

“I think it’s bad form, I think it’s inadvisable. It’s probably contrary to Indiana law, and I’ve expressed my reservation about it to some of our elected leadership,” Bosma said. “The leaders I’ve talked to, and I’ve talked to the top down, are not thrilled about this prospect but because other states are expressing support for this, there’s pressure to do it.”

Democrats push to prevent

Across the aisle, meanwhile, Democrats hope to sway public opinion against early redistricting.

Members of the Indiana House Democratic Caucus are joining forces with their Texan counterparts to host a news conference in Illinois on Wednesday. Texas House Democrats fled the Lone Star State to block redistricting legislation there.

“Together, the two House Caucuses will explain the serious danger mid-term redistricting plans pose to the legitimacy of our democracy,” a news release said. “Democrats in Texas and Indiana will continue to stand up and reject Trump’s demands to rig an election.”

The Indiana Democratic Party has also been active.

Former U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke of Texas drew hundreds to an Indianapolis town hall last Sunday, while hundreds more attended a Statehouse protest on Thursday that was headlined by Mrvan, Carson, and an array of state-level Democratic lawmakers.

Indiana Democratic Party Chair Karen Tallian noted both events were organized with “a couple days notice.” She hopes to keep that momentum going, and didn’t rule out the possibility of more rallies.

“We need public outrage and pressure before they ever make the decision that they’re going to call a special session,” she told the Capital Chronicle. “If you could prevent them from calling a special session, … that’s the best possible solution.”

Tallian, who served more than 15 years in Indiana’s Senate, maintains the current districts already offer Republicans outsized benefits, arguing the seven-two congressional split doesn’t reflect the Indiana electorate.

Voters generally went about 60%-40% in favor of statewide Republicans in the 2024 election.

“How greedy can you get? ‘Oh, they’ve got two. We want all of them,'” she said of the GOP.

Tallian said Democrats considered suing over redistricting in 2011 and 2021.

“Frankly, I’m still hoping that we can bring a gerrymandering lawsuit based on their current maps,” she said. “And now they want to come and do it again? It’s just, it’s outrageous.”

The Indiana Republican Party didn’t reply to multiple requests for comment on early redistricting.

Demographic change a factor

Some are open to the idea.

“Northwest Indiana, there’s a lot of people migrating there from the state of Illinois. It’s kind of the first stop over the border from Chicago, (a) good conservative state like Indiana,” Fort Wayne Rep. Bob Morris told WOWO last week.

“If we have an issue there, we’re going to have to get another, you know, essentially a census done in the state of Indiana by an independent source to see where the numbers are at,” he continued.

Mrvan’s 1st Congressional District includes Lake and Porter counties, as well as some of LaPorte County. The trio collectively grew by an estimated 5,824 people — less than 1% — between April 2020 and July 2024, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Indiana, as a whole, added an estimated 137,688 people — almost 2%.

“There’s nothing to lead … me to believe, at least, that things would have changed so dramatically that the congressional districts are not adequately representing their constituents, and at the end of the day, that’s why redistricting matters,” Wilson said.

Wilson said any changes should be recorded and addressed via data from the next census.

“Every 10 years we do this — whether it’s going to be good for you or bad for you, whether you want to or you don’t,” she added. “… Changing that mechanism means in the future, there’s no precedent. You can say, ‘Well … we want to redraw this right this moment.”

Some fear an effort to flip seats could backfire.

“You can spread out your Republican vote a little too thin so that every few cycles, seats are going back and forth,” U.S. Sen. Todd Young of Indiana told Punchbowl News last month. “And that can sort of cut both ways.”

Others predict squigglier lines.

Bosma said efforts to capture blue districts could undo progress the GOP made in other cycles to make the districts more compact and keep political subdivisions — counties, towns, cities, school districts, fire districts and more — intact when possible.

Map-drawers could “divvy up” northwest Indiana and put Mrvan at risk, he said. They could “run fingers into the center of the city” of Indianapolis to take aim at Carson.

“But … it would not look right, and you’d have to do some pretty serious tap dancing to make it even remotely reasonable,” he said of the 7th District.

Marjorie Hershey, an emeritus political science professor at Indiana University, said it’s “tempting” to look at the early redistricting fight as a “strategic matter of who’s winning and who’s losing.”

She encouraged a broader view.

“Democracy is not self-enforcing. It never has been,” Hershey said. “Democracies do fail, they do die, and we have to take seriously the possibility that that could happen here. Each step has a tendency to make the next step not look quite so bad or quite so distant.”

Senior Reporter Casey Smith contributed to this story.

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The Indiana Capital Chronicle is an independent, nonprofit news organization dedicated to giving Hoosiers a comprehensive look inside state government, policy and elections. The site combines daily coverage with in-depth scrutiny, political awareness and insightful commentary.

You can read the original version of the story here.

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