6/19/26 - More Diego Morales travel drama, Ballard's bad signatures, is the Amercian Dream fading?

6/19/26 - More Diego Morales travel drama, Ballard's bad signatures, is the Amercian Dream fading?

Today’s episode of The Rob Kendall Show focuses on another damaging report about Diego Morales, this time involving travel expenses tied to his wife, his chief legal counsel Jerry Bonnet, and taxpayer reimbursements. Rob says the setup itself is a major red flag: Bonnet allegedly fronted money for trips involving Morales and was later reimbursed by the state, even though some expenses were later flagged as improper. Rob argues that if these were legitimate state trips, the state or Morales himself should have handled the payments directly. Rob walks through the IndyStar report that Bonnet repaid more than $5,000 after expenses were flagged, including flights and conference fees involving Morales’ wife, hearing aids for Bonnet, and fees for non-employees. Rob says there is no reason taxpayers should be covering the travel of a spouse who is not a state employee, especially when the Secretary of State’s office tried to justify it by claiming spouses were expected to help at national conferences. Rob notes that the national organization reportedly said spouses and staff were encouraged to attend, but not required to perform conference duties. The show also digs into travel by former Morales staffer Elena Copsey, including Uber reimbursements tied to visits to conservative organizations and foreign embassies. Rob questions why the Indiana Secretary of State’s office would have a noncitizen employee visiting embassies for Italy, Latvia, and Hungary, and ties the broader pattern back to the long-running questions around Morales’ India trip, Raju Chinthala, taxpayer contracts, visa access, and foreign connections. He argues this is no longer ordinary political sloppiness, but a pattern that demands formal investigation. Another major segment covers Greg Ballard’s independent petition drive for Secretary of State after Hamilton County officials flagged one page of apparently fraudulent signatures. Rob says the person responsible should be prosecuted if the signatures were forged, but argues the incident appears to involve one rogue volunteer out of more than 35,000 submitted signatures. He says Republicans are trying to use a tiny fraction of the petitions to smear Ballard because they see him as a serious threat. The episode closes with Rob arguing the larger issue is Indiana’s ballot access system. He says Ballard’s effort shows how difficult Republicans and Democrats have made it for independents or regular people to run for office unless they operate under one of the two major parties. Rob says if Hoosiers pay to fund elections, they should have a real path to participate in them without needing hundreds of thousands of dollars, a professional signature operation, or the blessing of a party machine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

6/18/26 - Braun rips IURC, Bayh blasts Republican corruption, Delegates diss on convention strategy

Today’s episode of The Rob Kendall Show opens with the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission approving a $71 million rate increase for AES Indiana customers. Rob says Governor Braun owns the decision because he appointed three members of the five-member board, including IURC president Andy Zay, who voted for the increase. Rob argues Braun campaigned on affordability but then put an institutional insider in charge of utility regulation. Rob says Braun does not get to complain about the rate hike after appointing the people who approved it. He argues the governor could have asked every appointee whether they would support rate increases, and if he did not, that is on him. Rob also says the utility companies already operate as government-protected monopolies, so approving higher rates while profits are strong is another example of regular people paying more because of state-backed insiders. The show also ties the AES increase to the broader issue of data centers and rising electricity demand. Rob argues lawmakers helped create the problem by funding the IEDC’s incentives for data centers, then allowing utilities to pass the costs on to ratepayers. He says he is not anti-data center, but opposes poor and middle-class Hoosiers being forced to subsidize major corporations through higher taxes, higher bills, and state-backed giveaways. Another major segment breaks down Rob’s interviews with pledged Republican delegates in the Secretary of State race. After talking with supporters of Diego Morales, Max Engling, Jamie Ritenour, and David Shelton, Rob says the clear theme is that Shelton appears to be many delegates’ second choice. He argues that matters because no candidate is likely to win on the first ballot, so the race will depend on where supporters go after their preferred candidate drops out. The episode closes with Rob laying out the possible convention math. He says Max Engling may lead on the first ballot, but if he does not build a large enough lead, Shelton could become the compromise candidate as other camps look for an acceptable alternative. Rob says the big questions are whether Shelton stays viable early, whether Diego Morales finishes ahead of him, and whether delegates stick around through later rounds of voting. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

6/18/26 - Statehouse Happenings: Republicans Get Nasty as Convention Nears

The Indiana Republican Convention is Saturday in Fort Wayne. The race to be the party's Secretary of State nominee is getting nasty. Attack ads are coming at the candidates from all directions. Who will prove victorious in what promises to be a wild day? Rob Kendall, Jim Merritt, and Abdul-Hakim Shabazz discuss on Statehouse Happenings. You can find more information at RobKendallShow.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

6/17/26 - Ballard says he'll get signatures, how to avoid a school referendum, social security chaos

Today’s episode of The Rob Kendall Show opens with Brownsburg schools avoiding a referendum while more than 100 school referendums are expected across Indiana this fall. Rob argues that referendums should not be necessary if tax caps are real, and says Brownsburg proved schools can avoid raising taxes through hard work, cuts, creativity, and cooperation with other local government entities. He contrasts that with other districts that are putting tax hikes on the ballot rather than doing the harder work of budgeting. Rob says Brownsburg’s example matters because it is statistically one of the top school systems in Indiana and still found a way to avoid asking taxpayers for more money. He argues school administrators and boards often use referendums because they are lazy or uncreative, not because there is truly no other option. Rob also says Governor Braun and Micah Beckwith should be held to their past claim that they would help defeat referendums created by Senate Bill 1. The show also covers the Indianapolis City-County Council advancing major vehicle tax increases to qualify for state road funding. Rob explains that the state offered Indianapolis $50 million in road money if the city brought matching funds, but says the city did not have to raise taxes to do it. He argues Democrats initially framed the deal as if the state forced a tax hike, but after Republicans clarified the money could come from cuts, the council moved forward with tax increases anyway. Another major topic is Governor Braun creating another high-paid advisory role, this time for outgoing Commerce Secretary David Adams to oversee Braun’s $1 billion life sciences initiative. Rob compares it to the Adam Krupp situation and says Braun keeps moving people into vague “advisor” jobs without clear public accountability. He also criticizes the decision to give Adams a $75,000 performance bonus shortly before he leaves the commerce role. The episode closes with Rob blasting the IEDC and the broader Republican economic development system. He says the same organization Braun once treated as troubled enough to audit is still handing out money, bonuses, and powerful jobs to connected people. Rob argues the IEDC remains a symbol of how Indiana Republicans talk about reform while continuing the same insider-driven system of corporate giveaways, land acquisition, and taxpayer-funded economic development deals. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

6/16/26 - Kleinhelter loses certification, English explains charges, Gentry rips assessment system

Today’s episode of The Rob Kendall Show focuses on Greg Ballard’s effort to get on the ballot as an independent candidate for Indiana Secretary of State. Rob explains that Ballard needs 36,943 verified signatures by the end of June, and Abdul reported he had turned in just over 35,000 so far. Rob walks through how county officials verify signatures before they go to the state, and says Ballard likely needs to submit well above the minimum to survive challenges. Rob says Ballard is what makes the Secretary of State race truly interesting because he gives voters an option outside the normal Republican-versus-Democrat fight. If Ballard makes the ballot and reaches 10% of the vote, his party could gain primary ballot access for the next four years, creating a real third-party threat in Indiana. Rob argues that could especially disrupt Republicans by giving disaffected conservatives and independents somewhere else to go. The show also criticizes Indiana’s ballot access system as deliberately stacked against regular people. Rob says requiring nearly 37,000 verified signatures, or forcing candidates into expensive party convention systems, keeps normal Hoosiers from running unless they have major money or kiss the ring of one of the two major parties. He argues that Ballard’s struggle shows how hard Republicans and Democrats have made it for independents to participate. Another major segment covers Dubois County Sheriff Tom Kleinhelter giving up his law enforcement certification while remaining sheriff. Rob explains the background: a State Board of Accounts audit flagged questionable commissary fund spending, State Police built a probable cause affidavit, but charges tied to the underlying spending were never filed after Mike Braun became governor. Rob says the case looked like it was being swept under the rug until former State Police Superintendent Doug Carter discussed it publicly and Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears later filed charges over Kleinhelter allegedly lying to investigators. The episode closes with Rob arguing the Kleinhelter case shows two tiers of justice in Indiana: one for regular people and one for the politically connected. He says Kleinhelter may keep the elected title of sheriff, but losing law enforcement certification is still a major embarrassment and proves the state needs to reform how sheriff misconduct and commissary funds are handled. Rob also criticizes the lack of transparency around why the original case was not prosecuted and why the investigator who worked on it was punished. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]