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 Democratic hold Democratic gain Republican hold Secretary of state not elected No election | |||||||||||||||||||
The 2022 United States secretary of state elections were held on November 8, 2022, to elect the secretaries of state in twenty-seven states.[1] These elections took place concurrently with several other federal, state, and local elections.
The elections for secretary of state had taken on heightened importance due to former President Donald Trump's baseless claims that the 2020 election was stolen. Many had argued that election officials such as secretaries of state could have the power to overturn the 2024 election, should its outcome be disagreeable to the losing candidate. As such, both parties are expending far more resources than in previous cycles on these races.[2][3][4] A coalition of Republican candidates for secretary of state who have endorsed Trump's false claim that the 2020 election was stolen have organized under the America First Secretary of State Coalition slate.[5][6][7]
The previous elections for this group of states took place in 2018. The secretary of state of Vermont serves two-year terms and was last elected in 2020. Additionally, there is a special election being held in Washington (secretary of state elections in Washington are regularly held in presidential election years) due to the resignation of Republican Kim Wyman to take a position in the administration of President Joe Biden.
Going into the election, there were 27 Republican secretaries of state and 20 Democratic secretaries of state.[8] 13 Democratic secretaries of state were up for election, of whom Nellie Gorbea of Rhode Island was term-limited and Katie Hobbs of Arizona, Mark Kohler of Connecticut, Jesse White of Illinois, and Jim Condos of Vermont were retiring. 14 Republican secretaries of state were up for election, of whom John Merrill of Alabama and Barbara Cegavske of Nevada were term-limited, while Lawerence Denney of Idaho, Alvin Jaeger of North Dakota, and Karl Allred of Wyoming were retiring.
Republicans defended one state won by Joe Biden in 2020 (Georgia), while Democrats do not hold any states won by Donald Trump. However, Democrats defended several seats in states Biden won only narrowly, including Arizona, Wisconsin, and Michigan. Furthermore, Democrats had a net gain of one seat in Nevada, another state narrowly won by Biden.
- ^ "Secretary of State elections, 2022". ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
- ^ Montellaro, Zach (18 April 2022). "Who will run the 2024 election? They're on your ballot in 2022". Politico. Retrieved 2022-04-18.
- ^ Lucas, Fred (2022-01-07). "Trump helps thrust once-ignored secretary of state campaigns into big donor spotlight". Fox News. Retrieved 2022-04-18.
- ^ "Fmr. GOP Secretary of State: "glad a spotlight" is shining on election deniers running for office". MSNBC.com. Retrieved 2022-04-18.
- ^ Berzon, Alexandra (2022-06-05). "In Races to Run Elections, Candidates Are Backed by Key 2020 Deniers". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-06-05.
- ^ Sommer, Will (2022-06-01). "This QAnon Leader Could Control Key Elections in 2024". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 2022-06-05.
- ^ Montgomery, David (February 28, 2022). "Who Wants to be a State Secretary of State? Everyone". Washington Post.
- ^ "Secretary of State (state executive office)". Ballotpedia. Retrieved 2022-04-18.