Secretary of State race heats up as candidates make final rounds through Hoosier state

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- On Thursday, Oct. 29, the two major-party candidates for Indiana secretary of state made closing pitches five days before the Nov. 3 general election.

Democratic candidate Beau Bayh joined volunteers at a canvass launch on Portage Avenue in South Bend, Indiana. Bayh said voters he meets name the cost of living as their top concern.

"I just actually knocked on a door here in the neighborhood, and I usually typically ask people, well, what are some big issues for you? And reliably, people will say the cost of living. … One of the things I've been saying all along the campaign trail is that we got to bring the cost of living down here in Indiana." says Bayh.

He criticized spending under current Secretary of State Diego Morales and said he would independently audit the office as a first step. He pointed to an ethics pledge not to award secretary of state contracts to campaign donors or trade individual stocks while in office. Bayh also answered Republican ads questioning his Indiana roots, saying he is a seventh-generation Hoosier.

Bayh says, "When I talk to people about the current Secretary of State's office, they are alarmed and not very happy that the current secretary of state has spent our tax money on luxury SUVs for himself, on hiring his relatives to six-figure positions, on no-bid contracts to his largest donors. … That's why I've committed to independently audit this office as a first step to rein in some of that corruption and insider dealing."

Republican candidate Max Engling spoke before a Hall of Fame Dinner at the Owl's Nest in Kosciusko County, Indiana. Engling said his campaign is focused on election integrity, transparency and stopping business filing fraud.

"Some of what's happening around title fraud or deed fraud, and sometimes, you know, it gets overlooked in the Secretary of State's office. You focus on election integrity or you're focusing on the business registration division, but maybe not as much around notaries, and the important role that they play. … And one of the things that we're working on is potentially creating specific code, criminal code, for impersonating a notary, or for title fraud or deed fraud, to make sure that deters folks from doing that into the future." says Engling.

He said he would encourage the state's inspector general to fully evaluate the office. He noted that he defeated Morales for the Republican nomination at the party's convention. Engling also proposed a transparency portal where voters could report election concerns directly to the secretary of state's office.

"We're putting forward a transparency portal to make sure anyone around the state can send information that they see in elections directly up to the Secretary of State to either be investigated or further pursued, so voters have confidence in their elections."

Libertarian Lauri Shillings and independent Greg Ballard are also on the ballot.

For early polling statistics, click here.