A lawsuit accusing Indiana Republican Party leaders of disregarding the rights of convention delegates is now before the Indiana Supreme Court, which will decide whether to review the case after two lower courts dismissed it.
Joseph Bortka, a 2024 state convention delegate and Marion County precinct committeeman, has filed a petition to transfer, the procedural step required for the high court to review a Court of Appeals decision. Chief Justice Loretta Rush this month accepted a late response brief from the defendants and set July 6 as the deadline for any reply. The court has not indicated when it will rule on whether to take the case.
Bortka sued the Indiana Republican State Committee in July 2025 in Marion Superior Court, along with Ed Simcox and Randy Head, who chaired the party’s 2022 and 2024 conventions. The complaint alleged that party leaders silenced delegates, bypassed convention procedures and rewrote internal rules without the consent of the membership. Bortka framed the case as a shareholder-style derivative action, casting delegates as shareholders and the State Committee as a board of directors that breached its duties.
The suit sought no monetary damages. It asked the court to declare the biennial state convention the party’s highest authority, to bar future convention chairs from blocking delegate action, and to grant access to party records.
Marion Superior Court 2 dismissed the case. On April 30, the Court of Appeals affirmed in a memorandum decision written by Judge Mathias, with Judges May and Felix concurring. The panel also denied Bortka’s request that it take judicial notice of additional convention materials. Memorandum decisions are not binding precedent but may be cited for persuasive value.
While the case moved through the appellate courts, the party held its 2026 state convention June 19-20 at the Grand Wayne Convention Center in Fort Wayne. About 1,800 delegates nominated Max Engling for secretary of state over incumbent Diego Morales, renominated Treasurer Daniel Elliott and Comptroller Elise Nieshalla, and adopted the party platform.
Simcox served as Indiana secretary of state from 1978 to 1986. Head, a former state senator, was elected party chairman in June 2024 and resigned that December.
The lawsuit drew support from the Hoosier Freedom Caucus, the Indiana Republican Assembly and Tea Party groups. Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith was listed as a supporter, but his office said he had not authorized the listing and was not a party to the case.
The petition to transfer remains pending. The Indiana Supreme Court grants transfer in only a small share of the cases in which it is sought.
