Secretary of State of Indiana
Max Engling
CandidateR
- Race
- Secretary of State of Indiana
- Election
- 2026-11-03
- Opponents
- Beau Bayh (D); Greg Ballard (Lincoln Party); Lauri Shillings (L)
- Research
- Basic
Party linenone
No recorded floor votes — not a current legislator in our records.
Said vs. did1 statement · 0 votes
we have to protect our girls and women in sports, and boys should not be playing in their sports.
Bar transgender women and girls from women's and girls' school sports
Compare statements with votes ›On the ballotSecretary of State
2026-11-03
| Beau Bayh D | challenger |
| Max Engling R | challenger |
| Greg Ballard Lincoln Party | challenger |
| Lauri Shillings L | challenger |
Won the June 20 Republican convention over David Shelton, incumbent Diego Morales and Jamie Reitenour (Morales received 8.2% of delegate votes).
Said vs. did
Each documented position next to the recorded floor votes we map to the same issue. Votes are compared one at a time; no overall stance is inferred from them.
we have to protect our girls and women in sports, and boys should not be playing in their sports.
Said on WIBC that boys should not play in girls' sports; his campaign chairman also criticized opponent Greg Ballard over the topic, though the office has no role in it.[5]
No recorded floor vote in our key-vote set maps to this issue.
Biography
Max Engling is the Republican nominee for Indiana Secretary of State. He won the nomination at the June 20 convention over incumbent Diego Morales, after about 12 years working in Congress, most recently for U.S. Sen. Jim Banks.[1][2][3][4]
Basic profile — the most important sourced facts we found.
Engling earned a bachelor's degree from Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis in 2010 and a graduate degree from the U.S. Naval War College in 2020.[3]
He spent 12 years on Capitol Hill, working as a Republican staffer for a U.S. House committee (House Administration, according to his campaign), as an aide to then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, and as an aide to Sen. Banks.[6][2] In early 2025 he became Banks's central Indiana regional director and adviser.[4] He lost the 2024 Republican primary for Indiana's 5th Congressional District.[3]
Engling, 39, won the nomination at the state party convention in Fort Wayne on June 20, 2026, defeating Morales and Knox County Clerk David Shelton.[4][3]
In their own words
Priorities
- Election reforms, including 'ensuring that only citizens can vote in Indiana elections' and 'closing primaries to prevent crossover voting,' per his campaign website as quoted by Ballotpedia News.[7]
- Improve oversight and monitoring of business fraud and reduce regulatory burdens on business filings.[7][8]
- Create a transparency portal for citizens to report potential election issues directly, per his campaign website as quoted by Ballotpedia News.[7]
Statements, quoted without a stance
- Require documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote
“It’s also important that we have only eligible citizens voting in our elections.”[8]
At the Aug. 26 debate, where the Capital Chronicle reported he was the only candidate to support the full federal SAVE America Act; he did not describe the act's documentary-proof requirement in this remark.
Campaign moneyNo FEC filing summary matched — state candidates file with their state, not the FEC.
Profile: /people/max-engling
Compare all 4 candidates side by side ›
Sources cited in this profile
- 1.Indiana Secretary of State election, 2026 · Ballotpedia · 2026-10-19 Reference
- 2.Indiana secretary of state hopefuls clash over voting rules, office audit · Indiana Capital Chronicle via Indiana Public Media · 2026-08-27 News report
- 3.Max Engling · Ballotpedia Reference
- 4.Republican nominee for Indiana secretary of state · Indiana Capital Chronicle · 2026-06-20 News report
- 5.Spat breaks out in secretary of state's race over Indiana transgender sports ban · Indiana Capital Chronicle · 2026-08-21 News report
- 6.Ballotpedia candidate profiles and survey summaries, Indiana Secretary of State 2026 · Ballotpedia Candidate Connection · 2026 Candidate's own words
- 7.Open general election contest for Indiana Secretary of State after Republican incumbent defeated at convention · Ballotpedia News · 2026-08-07 Reference
- 8.Indiana secretary of state hopefuls clash over voting rules, office audit · Indiana Capital Chronicle via Indiana Public Media · 2026-08-27 News report