INDIANAPOLIS – In a blatant display of flouting ethical rules for public officials, Indiana’s top elections officer Secretary of State Diego Morales declared Jim Banks as “the next Senator from Indiana,” when he dropped off signatures to qualify for the Republican primary ballot on Thursday. 

He also congratulated Banks for filing on social media, and used an official office photo on his campaign account to endorse Banks’ Senate bid. He did not wish congrats from his official account for any other specific candidate who filed.

“As Indiana’s chief elections’ official, Diego Morales has a sworn responsibility to administer Indiana’s elections fairly and impartially. Instead, he’s taken to declaring his preferred candidate as ‘Indiana’s next U.S. Senator’ before a single ballot has been cast and with the filing deadline still open,” said Indiana Democratic Party Chair Mike Schmuhl. “It’s beneath the democratic process and frankly disrespectful to the millions of Hoosier voters whose ballots haven’t even been finalized, let alone cast.

“Whether it’s giving his brother-in-law a cushy, six-figure government job and two spot bonuses, or leaving the country within a week of the first election he oversaw with ballots still coming in, Diego Morales has shown no ethical regard for the role of his office. He owes Hoosiers an apology. Our party will be looking into any laws that may have been broken. Public officials serve everyone in our state and their taxpayer-funded offices and work should be completely separate from politics.”

###