Rep. Andrew Ireland Joins!

**Nigel** (0:00)
Hammer and Nigel.

**Andrew Ireland** (0:01)
You believe these characters are weirdos?

**Nigel** (0:06)
My name is Nigel. Jason Hammer is back. He's right over there with a very special guest on the hotline.

**Jason Hammer** (0:13)
I just got back from Ireland, and joining us now, Andrew Ireland, representative for the great state of Indiana. Representative, how the heck are you?

**Andrew Ireland** (0:23)
I'm doing well, doing well. Good to be back, guys.

**Jason Hammer** (0:26)
So take me through Saturday at the Indiana GOP Convention. Like, I feel like for political nerds like us, people who live in this kind of bubble, this was a huge deal and five hours of voting to get through one Secretary of State nominee.
Take me through your perspective on what you saw Saturday.

**Andrew Ireland** (0:50)
Yeah, exciting weekend up in Fort Wayne. Something like 1,800 delegates from all across the state, every county in Indiana being represented.
There to pick the best person possible in the fall to go up against, you know, Beau Bayh and then, you know, looks like H1B Greg Ballard, right? So we had a big fight, you know, on our hands, I think, in the beginning there. You know, I was chairing Max Engling's campaign. I've been a big fan of Max, known him for a while. I knew he'd make a really good Secretary of State. He had three other candidates in the race. They all had their own merits. And I mean, that's what conventions are all about, is, you know, kind of testing those candidates out, go and pitting them against one another and finding the best person possible for the fall. I think that's where we landed. It took quite a bit of time. We were definitely there. I hope everybody wore comfortable shoes because there was a lot of standing around. But at the end of the day, we got the job done.

**Nigel** (1:43)
Who is Max Engling? Like we know that he worked for Jim Banks' office. But other than that, we don't know that a lot of people know a lot about who he is, what he does, what he means to the state, and what he means for this nomination.

**Andrew Ireland** (2:02)
Yeah. So he doesn't have the kind of built-in legacy of a bi. And honestly, I think that's a plus, not a minus. He doesn't come from some political dynasty. But the people that are in the know, the people that are politically involved, particularly here in Central Indiana where Max lives, I think know him very well. He lives up in Hamilton County. He's got a nice young family. He went to college here. He got married here. He owned the house here. A lot of kind of things that maybe the other side really can't take credit for.
But at the end of the day, he's a good, solid conservative. And that's what I'm always looking for is who is the most conservative person who could win.
And none of this matters unless you got somebody that could win in the fall. And thankfully, we found somebody who both has the ideals that I share, and also I think they put our best foot forward to take on what might be a really well funded and well ran campaign on the other side.

**Jason Hammer** (2:54)
Andrew, we were talking earlier in the show that maybe a couple weeks ago, people were still wondering who is the face of the Indiana Republican Party? Is it Governor Braun? Is it Todd Rakita? Is it somebody else? I think after what we saw with the primary, after what we saw yesterday, I'm sorry, Saturday rather at the convention where 31 days after being anointed, Jim Banks staffer becomes the nominee. Is there any question that Jim Banks right now is the face of the Indiana Republican Party?

**Andrew Ireland** (3:29)
Well, I think the party certainly owes a debt of gratitude to Jim Banks, one for what he did, you know, and really helping get a lot of these really great, strong conservative candidates across the finish line in the May primaries, taking out some of these rhino senators. And then now, you know, when, you know, the time made it clear that we needed to do it, going and pulling a support from one candidate and, you know, opening a lane for somebody else to pick up the mantle, to really lead the fight in the Secretary of State's race. And a guy that, you know, I think he had picked out too for his own team because he saw the talent and the kind of work the guy's already done and, you know, saw, you know, a future for him here. So, yeah, I mean, I got to tell you, I think if I'm looking for somebody to help lead the fight in Indiana, Jim Banks is right at the front of the line.