Keep Your Eye on the Ball – by Jeremy Heath

On March 16^th, His Lordship Governor Holcomb announced that State Representative Holli Sullivan is stepping in as Secretary of State to replace the outgoing Connie Lawson. In an interesting turn of events, the tactic seems to have changed for the play for the Secretary of State.

Diego Morales, described as the obvious choice for the Secretary of State Position turned down the opportunity to finish out Lawson’s term, choosing instead to issue the following statement:

“I don’t want an unfair advantage in the selection process at the 2022 Indiana GOP convention, by taking on this position now and running then as the incumbent…”

It is an applause-worthy “Hail Mary” for the Indiana GOP to throw. In order to sidestep the accusation that this was all in the works, what better way to take the position than to anoint him as someone who wants the position honest. Of course, a few Hoosiers can see the tactic here, if they look close enough.

You see, an issue that Connie Lawson had going into the last election was that the establishment had to make her constitutionally eligible. That is what the Election Board had to do, and they did it without hesitation. There was some outrage among conservative Hoosiers, though not enough to really diminish Lawson’s chances.

To avoid the fiasco again, the Party is opting for a more delicate approach. Then, by having Diego say that he wants the Party Delegates to have a say, he potentially wins over the base, and by ensuring that there is no real challenger, the GOP Elite have still picked their man by virtue of delegates believing they have made the choice.

Here is where it gets interesting. State Representative Holli Sullivan, also the Deputy Chair of the Indiana GOP (do you see where this is going?) is now stepping in as the Indiana Secretary of State. Why is this interesting? Because she has already proven her party loyalty by not only defending the Governor’s emergency lockdown powers when Hoosier’s rallied, but she also allegedly attempted to convince a Local Republican to stop announcing the leaked information that His Lordship the Governor Holcomb was going to extend the lockdowns after the election. When she was denied, it was said that she called him a “Fake Republican”. For nothing more than telling Hoosiers what we now know to be the truth.

Her party loyalty ensures that when the time comes, she will not challenge Diego at the convention, handing the ball off to Diego to pull out the win.

Here is the Kicker. State Representative Holli Sullivan just won election in her district. Her two-year term coincides with the remaining time of the Secretary of State Position. The game as I see it potentially playing out is as follows: Sullivan is named Secretary. Someone gets placed in her office to finish her term. Diego wins the nomination with the path they cleared for him. Sullivan then primaries for her office back in 2022, and Hoosiers get Hosed again.

But they will call it democracy.

Let’s see what audible the Establishment calls next once people catch wise to the current play…in the meantime keep your eyes on the ball.