INDIANAPOLIS – In a recent interview with Republican Secretary of State nominee Max Engling, the South Bend Tribune reported, “Max Engling believes his campaign isn’t meant for everyone.”

In July, Engling was dinged by Knox County Clerk and former Republican opponent David Shelton for accepting a $60,000 campaign check from Mike Braun’s dark money group. State law limits such entities to making just $5,000 donations to statewide candidates.

On what the Tribune describes as the “$60,000 question”, Engling admitted he’s now trying to find a way to accept the money, but through straw donors. Engling: “And then see if there’s another way we could receive that money in another way.”

Hoosiers can’t trust Max to follow the law when it comes to his own books. How could they possibly expect him to enforce campaign finance law accurately across the whole state?

Before Engling even won the convention vote in June, the Indianapolis Star reported that Engling “has spent little time in Indiana.”. Engling worked for Republican Speakers of the House Kevin McCarthy and then Mike Johnson in Washington D.C. until December 2023, according to his history on Legistorm.

Even if Engling moved here in December 2023 after completing his job with Speaker Johnson, he would have only lived in Indiana for under three years. Friends, Max Engling has lived in Indiana for less time than a college senior who moved here to attend school from another state.

Republicans want to elect someone who has fewer ties and less history in our state than a college student. 

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