Destiny Wells, the Democratic candidate for Indiana secretary of state, speaks during a news conference outside the Indiana Statehouse in Indianapolis on Sept. 15, 2022. | Tom Davies/AP Photo
By Adam Wren
11/07/2022 04:30 AM EST
Indiana Democrats, shut out of statewide offices for a decade in the solidly red state, could change that on Tuesday thanks to an unexpectedly competitive secretary of state race.
Republican nominee Diego Morales, a former gubernatorial aide to Mike Pence who has called the 2020 election a “scam,” has been dogged by controversy in recent months, including allegations of sexual improprieties, voter fraud and misuse of campaign funds. That has created an opening for his Democratic opponent, Destiny Wells.
The race remains close, according to public polling: Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball, a nonpartisan political analysis and handicapping newsletter run by the University of Virginia Center for Politics, ranks the race as a tossup.
Morales is part of the America First Secretary of States’ coalition, a group that promotes candidates who believe the 2020 presidential election was marred by significant voter fraud to run for their state’s top election-management position. Pence, his former boss, held a fundraiser for Morales here on Oct. 12.
“It does feel like an opening,” said Pete Buttigieg, the former South Bend mayor and presidential candidate. His former political action committee, Win the Era, endorsed Wells last month. (Buttigieg stepped down from...
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