How much did Diego Morales spend on travel? His campaign finance report has details
The largest of his travel-related expenses reported is a $1,300 flight purchased about a month before his May trip to Hungary, though his campaign says that that particular line item was for "travel related to other campaign activities."
That's just half of the overall amount he spent on air travel in the first six months of the year, during which he spent time and money on campaign expenses in numerous states outside Indiana.
Morales raised nearly $160,000 in the first half of 2025, and enters the second half of the year with $900,000 in the bank. All the money he raised this year came in after May 1, when he announced his reelection campaign; shortly thereafter, two potential challengers emerged in Knox County Clerk David Shelton and former gubernatorial candidate Jamie Reitenour, who both have filed exploratory committees. Neither have reported raising any money.
The expensive air travel was just one of IndyStar's findings from an analysis of his most recent campaign finance report.
The $1,300 Delta Airlines expense is dated April 7, and the Hungary trip happened during the last week of May.
Morales and his wife traveled there on what his office previously labeled "personal time," though he also spoke at CPAC Hungary about his role as secretary of state. Social media posts show Morales "enjoying some personal time in Europe" visiting family with his wife, Sidonia, who is Hungarian, as well as meeting with local dignitaries and speaking at CPAC Hungary. In response to criticism and questions over who paid for this trip, Morales wrote on social media that this was a "personal trip" and that CPAC covered the costs.
In an email Thursday, his campaign reiterated that CPAC covered the trip costs through their Center for Fundamental Rights. It did not respond to a follow-up question asking where this $1,300 flight was to.
More: Secretary of State Diego Morales gets flak for overseas travel. Is he breaking any rules?
A quick search on Delta's website shows round trip tickets between Indianapolis and Budapest can cost anywhere from $700-$1,300 per person. Further, the Minnesota-St. Paul airport is a often a layover stop for this flight, and he got a meal from that airport on May 27 ― and a Facebook post later that day shows him in a meeting with local officials in Hungary.
He also paid $240 on March 7 to U.S. Customs to get "precheck for air travel," shortly before a separate trip to India that month.
While state law says that campaign money "may not be used for primarily personal purposes," campaign money can be used for "activity related to service in an elected office."
Morales has repeatedly made the case that he'll always take opportunities that arise to represent and endorse Indiana as secretary of state, no matter where he is in the world ― though the mixture of business, personal and campaign-appearing activities amid Morales' overseas travel to both India and Hungary this year has drawn him critics from across the political spectrum.
Morales' largest contribution this period comes from a political action committee with only two reported funders, one of whom is Kelley Automotive of Fort Wayne, where Morales' $90,000 state vehicle was purchased.
Hoosiers for Good Government PAC, a political action committee created in 2023 by now-Allen County Commissioner Ronald Turpin, gave Morales $20,000 on June 30. This PAC has only reported contributions from two funders: $10,000 from Kelley Automotive of Fort Wayne and $60,000 from Ambassador Enterprises LLC ― a private equity firm founded by the parents of former gubernatorial candidate Eric Doden and for whom Turpin was a senior vice president. This PAC has only ever given two donations: $5,000 to a Fort Wayne mayoral candidate Tom Didier in 2023, and this large contribution to Morales.
Here are Morales' other top donors:
Here are the largest line items on his expense sheet:
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