Republican nominee Diego Morales faced numerous controversies, including the fact that he was previously fired from a position in the Secretary of State office; his echoing of Donald Trump's false accusations of fraud in the 2020 elections; his use of campaign funds to purchase a $43,000 Toyota RAV4; his description of himself as a "veteran" even though he only served in the military for three months and he was in the Indiana Army National Guard and never deployed on Active Duty (the federal definition of a "veteran" only includes active duty or guardsmen who have deployed on active duty orders); claims that portions of his resume are exaggerated or misleading; and two accusations of sexual harassment against him.

[2][3][4][5][6] After winning the Republican nomination, he changed his stance on the 2020 presidential election, telling The Washington Post that he believed Biden won legitimately.

WTHR commented that Morales received the most negative press of any statewide candidate in Indiana since Richard Mourdock in the 2012 Senate race.

[10] Local officials Labor unions Organizations Newspapers On October 10, a debate for the Secretary of State election was held by WFYI and the League of Women Voters.

Democrat Destiny Wells and Libertarian Jeff Maurer participated in the debate, while Morales skipped it to attend a meeting of the Warrick County Republican Party.