Secretary of State — Indiana 2026

DBeau BayhDemocratic

Indianapolis attorney, former U.S. Marine Corps infantry captain and son of former Gov. and Sen. Evan Bayh, nominated at the June 2026 Democratic convention.

Bayh is endorsed by the Indiana Reproductive Freedom PAC, which endorses only candidates who commit in writing to fight for access to 'safe and legal abortion.' Elsewhere he backs Indiana's voter ID law and calls for gas-tax and utility sales-tax relief, but he has stated no positions on marriage, religious liberty or guns.

• Life: Endorsed by the Indiana Reproductive Freedom PAC, which endorses only candidates who answer yes to a commitment to fight for 'access to safe and legal abortion, contraception, and fertility treatments.'
• Family: No explicit positions found on marriage, parental rights or gender issues; running as a Democrat suggests alignment with the party platform.
• Religious liberty: No positions found on religious liberty; he did not answer iVoterGuide's religious liberty questions.
• 2nd Amendment: No position found on gun policy; he did not answer iVoterGuide's Second Amendment question and does not appear on the 2026 Moms Demand Action Gun Sense Candidate list for Indiana.
• Limited gov’t: Says he supports Indiana's voter ID law and that only citizens should vote, but calls a push for added citizenship checks fear-mongering, and he backs citizen-led ballot initiatives, an end to straight-ticket voting and labor unions alongside cutting red tape for small businesses.
• Fiscal: Calls for tax relief for working Hoosiers, including lowering the gas tax and eliminating the sales tax on utilities, and pledges a forensic audit of spending in the Secretary of State's office.

Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]

Campaign siteBallotpedia

AMax EnglingRepublican

Former U.S. House Republican staffer and regional director for Sen. Jim Banks who defeated incumbent Diego Morales for the Republican nomination at the June 2026 convention.

Strong conservative answers on the iVoterGuide questionnaire on life, marriage, religious conscience, voter ID and voter-roll maintenance, but he has no voting or official record, and his Second Amendment and fiscal answers are general rather than specific.

• Life: Strongly agreed that life deserves legal protection from conception and that abortion providers should not receive taxpayer funds; questionnaire only, no voting record.
• Family: Strongly agreed that marriage is one man and one woman, that parents have a fundamental right to direct their children's health and education, and that transitioning a child is child abuse.
• Religious liberty: Strongly disagreed that individuals and businesses should be required to provide services that violate their religious beliefs.
• 2nd Amendment: Answered the gun-restrictions question only by quoting the U.S. and Indiana constitutions, without stating a specific position; not rated by NRA-PVF (which grades only federal and legislative races).
• Limited gov’t: Strongly opposes voting without photo ID, says he is cleaning ineligible voters from the rolls, opposes sanctuary cities and agreed with eliminating the U.S. Department of Education.
• Fiscal: Proposes competitive bidding, streamlined IT and lower mailing costs for the office; no tax, spending-record or scorecard evidence found.

Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]

Campaign siteBallotpedia

N/RLauri A. ShillingsLibertarian

Chair of the Hamilton County Libertarian Party and creative director at the University of Indianapolis, running as the Libertarian nominee.

Not rated: her campaign site addresses only office administration (secure and transparent elections, simpler business filings, cutting red tape, office independence), and she did not answer the iVoterGuide questionnaire, so there is no position on five of the six values.

Sources: [1] [2] [3]

Campaign siteBallotpedia

DGreg BallardLincoln Party

Former two-term Republican mayor of Indianapolis (2008-2015) and retired Marine lieutenant colonel, running as an independent on the Lincoln Party line.

As Indianapolis mayor he publicly opposed Indiana's 2015 Religious Freedom Restoration Act and urged adding sexual orientation and gender identity to state civil-rights law, and in 2014 he proposed a 43% increase in the city's public-safety income tax; no public positions on abortion or guns were found.

• Life: No position found; he did not answer the iVoterGuide questionnaire on abortion.
• Family: In 2015 urged lawmakers to add sexual orientation and gender identity to state anti-discrimination law.
• Religious liberty: Publicly denounced Indiana's 2015 Religious Freedom Restoration Act and asked that city ordinances be exempted from it.
• 2nd Amendment: No position found; he did not answer the iVoterGuide gun question and is not rated by NRA-PVF in this race.
• Limited gov’t: Campaigns on independent redistricting commissions, open primaries and a nonpartisan voter guide; did not answer the iVoterGuide photo-ID question.
• Fiscal: As mayor proposed raising Indianapolis's public-safety income tax from 0.35% to 0.5% (approved 19-10 in 2014) to fund more police officers.

Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]

Campaign siteBallotpedia