What would be your top priority as Indiana secretary of state?

My campaign is focused on three priorities: election integrity, protecting Hoosiers from fraud, and government accountability. First, I’ll work to ensure only eligible U.S. citizens vote in Indiana elections and strengthen confidence in our system. Second, I’ll crack down on fraudulent business filings and shell companies that exploit Hoosiers. Third, I’ll make the Secretary of State’s office more transparent and efficient by cutting unnecessary red tape, improving services for businesses, and giving Hoosiers a direct way to report potential election concerns.

The current secretary of state, Diego Morales, has been scrutinized for awarding millions of dollars in no-bid contracts. What would your approach be to awarding contracts?

I would approach this the same way I approach every part of this job: the office belongs to the taxpayers, and every dollar should be spent efficiently, effectively, and responsibly to deliver results for Hoosiers. My duty as Secretary of State would be to ensure secure elections and that each of the four divisions operates well, serves the public, and provides real value to taxpayers. Recent transparency measures adopted by the General Assembly provide important safeguards, and I will build on that work by ensuring contracts are merit-based, thoroughly vetted, legally compliant, and structured to deliver the greatest possible value for taxpayers.

Since part of your job as secretary of state would include election security, do you think Indiana’s elections are already safe enough, or is there something different you would do to keep elections safe and secure?

Indiana has strong election safeguards, and we should be proud of the work our state has done to protect election integrity. We’ve held the line on voter ID requirements and put important protections in place for absentee voting, including identification requirements for absentee ballot applications and bipartisan review by county election officials. Strong election security doesn’t mean we stop looking for ways to improve in Indiana. As Secretary of State, I would build on what Indiana is already doing well by strengthening voter eligibility verification, protecting the integrity of our voter rolls, increasing transparency, and ensuring Hoosiers can be confident our elections are secure, fair, and administered in accordance with the law. Additionally, my office will create a transparency portal so citizens can report potential election issues themselves.

With the negative attention the secretary of state office has been getting — including for no-bid contracts and salary increases — how would you go about repairing the office’s public perception?

I am the only candidate in this race that has stepped up and actually done something about the challenges in this office — I ran at the Republican Convention and won. Restoring confidence in the office is an issue that we will be tackling from day one — providing a new vision and processes for the office from the top down. My team will run the office transition, with advice, counsel, and participation from others inside and outside the office. In addition, we will look to the Indiana Inspector General’s office, and assist the office when appropriate, to uphold its mission and evaluate the office and its operations as necessary.

What is your position on President Donald Trump’s efforts to create a nationwide list of verified eligible voters and implement restrictions on mail-in voting?

I support the goal of ensuring that only eligible citizens participate in our elections and that our voter rolls are accurate, secure, and regularly verified. Indiana has strong safeguards for the security of mail-in voting, including verifying voters’ identity and eligibility and ensuring ballots are securely requested, transmitted, returned, and counted. As Secretary of State, I would use every permissible tool available to Indiana to maintain accurate voter rolls, verify eligibility, prevent fraud, and give Hoosiers confidence that every legitimate ballot is counted.