Bayh wins Indiana secretary of state race with 990,007 votes

Beau Bayh will become the next Indiana secretary of state.

The Associated Press projected Bayh as the winner shortly before 2:30 a.m. on Wednesday. With 94 percent of Indiana votes counted at 2:29 a.m., Bayh held 990,007 votes. His closest opponent, Republican Max Engling, had 818,638 votes. Lincoln Party candidate Greg Ballard and Libertarian Lauri Shillings shared the remaining votes, totaling less than 6 percent.

Bayh, 30, is the son of former Indiana Gov. and U.S. Sen. Evan Bayh. He is also the grandson of former U.S. Sen. Birch Bayh. As the state's chief election officer, Bayh campaigned on a pledge to fight for fair and secure elections. He also vowed to combat corruption and wasteful spending within the secretary of state's office.

The Democrat led in early results from Hamilton County and Allen County. In Hamilton County, early voting and absentee ballots posted shortly after polls closed at 6 p.m. Tuesday gave Bayh 48,619 votes. Engling trailed with 25,351 votes in that county. In Allen County, the first results showed Bayh with 31,050 votes and Engling with 16,361.

Bayh will replace outgoing Secretary of State Diego Morales. Morales was not chosen to seek reelection during the Republican convention in Fort Wayne in June.

Other state races remained close as of 2:29 a.m. Wednesday. In the race for state comptroller, Democrat Jessica Bailey led Republican incumbent Elise Nieshalla by 43,823 votes. Bailey had 942,756 votes, while Nieshalla had 898,933. Libertarian John Schick received less than 3 percent of the vote. The Associated Press had not yet projected a winner in that race.

In the state treasurer race, Republican incumbent Daniel Elliott led Democrat Coumba Kebe. Elliott had 968,820 votes, and Kebe had 924,858. Elliott said Tuesday night, "Well, I think that what we can see is there are some things we've got to work on. As a Republican Party, there are some things we've got to work on that matter to Hoosiers." Two ballot questions also advanced. Public Question 1 would expand bail exceptions for crimes with strong evidence of public safety risk. Public Question 2 would allow city and town judges to live in a bordering county. The Associated Press projected yes votes to outnumber no votes by 17 and 25 percentage points, respectively.