Libertarian Shillings battles to keep party’s ballot access in Indiana
4-way race for high-stakes secretary of state office gets rare media interest
Libertarian Lauri Shillings’ race for secretary of state, Indiana’s ballot-access determinate, has become a Schrodinger's cat election.
There’s too much money in politics … until there isn’t enough.
Media gives second-class coverage of candidates outside of the Republicans and Democrats … unless it’s a so-called underdog whose coverage rivals that of the Republican and Democrat candidates.
“It proves media can cover third-party candidates if they really wanted to. They still exclude Libertarians fully in almost everything that they do,” Shillings said.
While the Indiana Debate Commission includes all candidates, and Shillings will be included, there’s another debate on Fox 59 in Indianapolis that comes with a condition.
“There's a $100,000 threshold to pay to play. So by the end of my reporting period, September 30, I had to declare $100,000 in income or donations in some form,” said Shillings, who added that her donations come mostly in smaller donations from Hoosiers.
“I'm a valid candidate, even though I probably have the most experience running a business, leading nonprofit entities, doing the work of the people of Indiana compared to the other individuals. Apparently, rich is the disclaimer for qualification.”
The candidates, in order of entering the race:
Libertarian Lauri Shillings;
Democrat Beau Bayh, son of Evan Bayh – former U.S. senator, governor, and Indiana secretary of state – and grandson of Sen. Birch Bayh;
Republican Max Engling, a staffer for U.S. Sen. Jim Banks who entered the race late and defeated incumbent Diego Morales for the GOP nomination;
Greg Ballard, a former Republican mayor of Indianapolis, running under the newly formed Lincoln Party with the goal of securing ballot access for future candidates.
Shillings began running in March 2025, yet she still works full time as creative director for the University of Indianapolis, where she takes off work when possible. It isn’t always possible. She took a hiatus from her adjunct teaching role at a community college, sacrificing about $2,000 a month:
“It would be a disservice to those students should I continue to campaign and not properly give them the education that they need. And I have ethics when it comes to those things.”
2026 RACE IS GETTING A LOT MORE ATTENTION
This crucial race for Indiana ballot access typically gets little attention, fitting for an "unsexy office" that in Indiana oversees elections, business registrations, auto dealerships and securities. It can’t pass laws. It’s not a magnet for political groupies.
Until 2026.
Four candidates are running after a turbulent term for incumbent Diego Morales, who lost the Republican nomination at the party's June convention. His tenure has drawn accusations and investigations involving nepotism, hiring practices and the use of state funds.
Democrats had challenged a previous secretary of state in 2010 on similar accusations that he voted and ran from one address, yet lived at another; he was convicted of felonies and removed from office. Democrats did not push for enforcement after Morales’ election nor during his four-year term.
Delegates to the Indiana GOP convention bypassed Morales and nominated a staffer of U.S. Sen. Jim Banks. In Indiana, primary voters choose the delegates who will nominate their party’s candidates for offices like secretary of state or auditor. Minor parties select candidates at conventions.
THIS RACE SHAPES THE FUTURE OF BALLOT ACCESS
Indiana ballot access depends upon a single race: secretary of state, which appears on ballots during midterm elections.
A party whose secretary of state candidate receives at least 2% of the statewide vote earns automatic ballot access for the next four years. Reaching 10% also allows the party to nominate candidates through state-funded primary elections.
Indiana law further establishes that the top two finishing parties in this specific contest hold major-party status.
If an emerging party’s candidate places first or second, that result could also change which political parties are entitled to certain appointments traditionally held by Republicans and Democrats.
County results matter, too. This became a thought exercise in 2020 when Donald Rainwater, the Libertarian candidate for governor, earned 11.4% of the vote and placed second in 33 of 92 counties. Had those results occurred in a secretary of state election, Libertarian second-place finishes could have affected which parties were entitled to certain county election-administration appointments.
The same secretary of state race also helps determine how difficult it is for candidates without automatic ballot access to get onto the ballot. Independent and petition candidates generally must collect signatures equal to 2% of the votes cast for secretary of state within the district where they are running.
That gives one race enormous consequences far beyond who becomes secretary of state.
The Libertarian Party of Indiana first secured ballot access in 1994 and has maintained it ever since. Now Shillings has to reach that 2% threshold again to preserve it for Libertarian candidates for another four years.
At the same time, another candidate in the race is demonstrating just how difficult it can be to get onto the ballot without it.
Former Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard is running under the newly formed Lincoln Party. Ballard initially entered the race as an independent before adopting the Lincoln Party label as part of an effort to establish ballot access for future candidates.
Before Ballard could even compete for that 2%, however, he had to qualify for the ballot.
His campaign needed 36,943 verified signatures. It submitted more than 74,000, with election officials ultimately verifying 40,361. Campaign finance reports show $780,000 was paid to a signature-gathering firm.
Now Ballard needs at least 2% of the vote. If he gets it, future Lincoln Party candidates would have automatic ballot access for the next four years.
Shillings needs the same 2% to keep the access Libertarians already have.
Two candidates with two very different situations and the same threshold.
But there is a bigger question.
Why should the future ballot access of an entire political party depend on the performance of one candidate in one race?
A party could have candidates, members and voters across Indiana, yet its ability to easily put those candidates on future ballots can hinge on whether its secretary of state candidate reaches a single percentage threshold once every four years.
Shillings feels the weight of that system.
“It's a challenge because if I don't maintain 2% ballot access, then every down-ballot candidate in the state of Indiana as a Libertarian will not be able to apply to be on the ballot unless they go gather signatures for their area. Sometimes it's hundreds of signatures for a local area, sometimes it's thousands, sometimes – as in my case – it would be tens of thousands, and you always have to get twice what you need because they're always gonna throw out ineligible registered voter signatures,”
she said, adding that losing ballot access would make it far harder to put a Libertarian presidential candidate on the ballot.
Ballard’s experience illustrates the other side of that system. His campaign reported submitting more than 74,000 signatures to clear a requirement of 36,943 verified signatures. Election officials ultimately verified 40,361.
Without automatic ballot access, candidates can be forced to repeat that petition process one race at a time.
“Everybody I've talked to for the last eight months is like, ‘I just want somebody better, and thank God you're running.’ ‘Thank God I have someone that I can actually vote for rather than vote against,’ ” Shillings said. “And they agree with everything that I'm telling them, but to change their minds in the voting booth is really hard to break that habit.”
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