(INDIANAPOLIS) - Former Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard announced Wednesday that he will run for Indiana secretary of state as an independent candidate.
Ballard, a Republican who served two terms as mayor of Indianapolis, told the Indiana Capital Chronicle he wants to bring a nonpartisan approach to the state's top elections office.
Ballard will need to gather nearly 37,000 certified petition signatures from registered voters by July 15 to qualify for the November ballot as an independent candidate.
Ballard said he plans to collect about 50,000 signatures to ensure he meets the requirement and expects he will need to raise about $2 million to run a competitive campaign.
The secretary of state race will be the top statewide contest on Indiana's ballot this year. Republican and Democratic nominees will be selected at their party conventions in June.
Current Republican Secretary of State Diego Morales is seeking renomination and faces challenges from Knox County Clerk David Shelton and Jamie Reitenour.
On the Democratic side, Beau Bayh is running against Blythe Potter, a small business owner and Army veteran from Bargersville.
Ballard, a retired lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Marine Corps, served as Indianapolis mayor from 2008 to 2016 after defeating Democratic incumbent Bart Peterson in the 2007 election.
A recent poll released by the group Independent Indiana showed Ballard with about 23.8 percent support in a hypothetical three-way race, compared with 31.5 percent for Bayh and 28.5 percent for Morales, according to the Indiana Capital Chronicle.