Former Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard turned in his final batch of petition signatures this week, telling reporters his independent run for Indiana Secretary of State under the new Lincoln Party banner has already cleared the ballot-access hurdle that, in his telling, both major parties built to keep newcomers out.
The campaign said it submitted more than 74,000 signatures statewide — better than double the requirement — capping a four-month gathering effort that closed with roughly 10,000 signatures filed in the final two days, including about 6,000 on the last day and 3,000 the day before. The final petitions went to Marion County.
“This is more like a movement than a candidacy,” Ballard said, casting the effort as a response to voters he described as disillusioned and unrepresented by either party. “People are disillusioned, they’re angry with what’s going on, and they want a different choice.”
Pressed on why he didn’t simply run as a Republican — a path some in the GOP argue he could have won — Ballard was blunt. He said he didn’t believe he could win a Republican primary or convention, but insisted that wasn’t the motivation. “The independents, the rational, practical problem-solving people aren’t running for office anymore,” he said. “There was no lane for them. Now there is.”
The numbers carry stakes well beyond Ballard’s own name on the ballot. Under Indiana law, a Secretary of State candidate who draws 2% of the vote establishes official party status — here, creating the Lincoln Party and entitling it to seats on local election boards across the state. Clear 10%, Ballard said, and the party earns a spot on the primary ballot going forward.
“Two percent opens up the path for others to follow over the next four years,” he said, framing the run as a long-term project to build a durable third option rather than a one-off campaign. “And that would shake things up quite a bit throughout the state.”
Ballard acknowledged the contest has drawn unusual attention — the Secretary of State’s race is typically an afterthought — amid the turmoil surrounding incumbent Diego Morales, and predicted it could become one of the most expensive down-ballot races in state history. He said he was untroubled by any money gap, reaching back to his 2007 mayoral upset, when he was outspent roughly 20-to-1 and won anyway. “I’m quite comfortable where I am right now,” he said.
He pointed to early internal polling that, by his account, put him above 20% in every region of the state, at 23% in a three-way matchup within 10 points of the leader, and leading among voters 18 to 34. Those figures have not been independently verified, and Ballard declined to release county-by-county counts, saying the data isn’t yet public.
He did offer one correction to his own tally. Signing a petition last Saturday, Ballard learned he’d already signed months earlier in Boone County. “So we’ll take one out of that,” he said.
