Republicans win Indiana auditor, treasurer & secretary of state races

Indiana Republicans claimed victory in every statewide race Tuesday, dashing Democrats' hope of winning their first statewide seat in a decade.

Here's where the statewide office races stood at the end of the night Tuesday:

Indiana secretary of state race

Republican Diego Morales claimed victory against Democrat Destiny Wells and Libertarian James Maurer shortly before 10 p.m. Tuesday, after a campaign plagued with controversy. Wells gave her concession speech about 20 minutes later.

Morales, who once was fired from the office, campaigned on the idea that he is an example of the American Dream, because he immigrated from Guatemala. He won the nomination in the Republican convention as an anti-establishment candidate.

With about 71% of the vote counted, Morales had 55% of the vote, Wells had 40% of the vote and Maurer had 6% of the vote, as of 11:45 p.m.

"We started from scratch," Morales said during his victory speech. "… now you have a son elected as the next and first Hispanic Latino Secretary of State in Indiana."

In a speech before supporters at the Nevermore Union Station venue, Wells said her campaign fell short. She devoted her time talking about what lies ahead for Indiana in the next four years.

“It’s very serious,” she said. “We were on the precipice of something amazing — an amazing opportunity for Indiana with this office. We were about to flip Indiana blue for the first time in a decade, but we fell a little short. Now it is upon you, Hoosiers, who will be charged with who is securing our elections because our next secretary of state is going to need all of our help in a very big way.”

Indiana auditor race

Republican Auditor Tera Klutz claimed victory in her reelection bid against Democrat ZeNai Brooks and Libertarian John Schick around 10 p.m. Tuesday.

The Associated Press called the race more than an hour later with about 70% of the vote counted. As of 11:45 p.m., Klutz had 61% of the vote, Brooks had 35% and Schick had 4% of the vote.

Klutz, who won by 14.5 percentage points during her first run in 2018, was largely expected to win reelection. She was uncontested at the Republican convention in June, and has since outraised her opponents. Klutz is the first certified public accountant to serve in the position.

Brooks is a CPA, the financial director of the Corporate Responsibility function of Cummins, pastor's wife and author. Schick ran for the auditors office in 2018 and 2014 as well.

During Klutz's victory speech, she highlighted the work she did revamping the state's transparency portal, which allows Hoosiers to see some state data and information. She also listed other accounting improvements in her victory speech.

"There's a lot more to do and I'm super confident with the team that we have, many of whom are here today, that we will continue to build on those successes, making sure Indiana is fiscally strong and resilient," she said.

Brooks meanwhile emphasized how much work Democrats have to do in Indiana in her speech.

“We have to learn to win," she said. "We have to learn to fight. We have to play chess and checkers at the same time. We have to be both in the short game and the longer and we have to be intentional about the things that we say that we care about.”

Indiana treasurer race

With current Treasurer Kelly Mitchell being term limited, voters at the polls today chose who should replace her.

Republican Daniel Elliott, the former chair of the Morgan County Republican Party, claimed victory against Democrat Jessica McClellan, the Monroe County treasurer, on the ballot for state treasurer around 10 p.m. Tuesday.

The Associated Press called the race around 11:40 p.m., with about 72% of the vote counted. Elliott had 62% of the vote and McClellan has 38% of the vote.

"Republicans have a message that matters, a message that Hoosiers are responding to across the state," Elliott said during his speech.

Despite her loss, McClellan's tone was upbeat as she thanked her wife, Eve, who walked her onto the stage.

“The only thing that I would like to add is that Indiana Democrats, we are changing our party every single day. Stay involved,” she said. “There are new people in this party that were not involved 10,15, 20 years ago. We have to keep them involved and we have to bring more people in that relationship.”

While McClellan had the blessing from her party prior to convention, Elliott faced three other Republicans at the Republican convention in June for a spot on the ballot.

Like Morales in the secretary of state race, Elliott was the popular choice among anti-establishment Republicans.

Call IndyStar Statehouse and political watchdog reporter Kaitlin Lange at 317-432-9270 or email her at kaitlin.lange@indystar.com. Follow her on Twitter: @kaitlin_lange.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Republicans win Indiana auditor, treasurer & secretary of state races