Greg Ballard promises avoid partisan politics if he wins Secretary of State race | News

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTHI) – Former Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard is running for Indiana Secretary of State as an independent, and he tells News 10 that he will keep partisan politics out of the Secretary of State’s office should he win. 

Ballard served as mayor of Indianapolis from 2008 until 2016. He said he’s been asked to run for different state offices since leaving the mayor’s office, but none felt right until now.

“None of them quite felt right. And there is also a feeling coming on that it’s getting really toxic out there,” Ballard said. “The moderate practical person seems to not have a shot anymore.”

Ballard, a lifelong Republican, is collecting the 37,000 voter signatures required to appear on Indiana’s November ballot.

His petition documents will list his party affiliation as “Lincoln Party,” a nod to one of his favorite presidents. Ballard said his new party will hopefully expand ballot access to independents and help him with future elections should he win.

“If I’m not associated with a party, I would have to go back and get these signatures the next time, even though I am an incumbent,” Ballard said. “So it’s a quirk in the law.”

Ballard said if elected, he would stray away from partisan politics in the Secretary of State’s office.

“We would do none of that. None of it,” Ballard said. “Once I get in there, I will not endorse, I will not fundraise for, I will not donate to, any candidate.”

Ballard said he would like to start providing voter guides to help educate voters about candidates and ballot issues.

“They don’t have a sheet of paper they can take into the voting booth saying who are the candidates, what do they stand for, what are these other issues that are on the ballot,” Ballard said.

Ballard said he thinks this idea would also help Indiana’s lagging voter turnout.

“If they know more ahead of time, because we are going to push it out ahead of time, maybe they will actually go to the voter booth where otherwise they might not do that,” Ballard said.

Ballard’s campaign will be spending the coming months securing the required 37,000 signatures. If he gets them, his name will appear on the November ballot.

You can learn more about Ballard’s bid for office on his campaign website.