The 2022 United States secretary of state elections were held on November 8, 2022, to elect the secretaries of state in twenty-seven states. 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. 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.
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.
Partisan composition Going into these elections, this class of secretaries of state is made up of 14 Republicans and 13 Democrats. Additionally, Democrats hold secretary of state offices in three states with Republican governors. By contrast, Republicans hold secretariat offices in two states with Democratic governors.
Going into the election, there were 27 Republican secretaries of state and 20 Democratic secretaries of state. 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.
Election predictions Several sites and individuals published predictions of competitive seats. These predictions looked at factors such as the strength of the incumbent (if the incumbent is running for re-election), the strength of the candidates, and the partisan leanings of the state (reflected in part by the state's Cook Partisan Voting Index rating). The predictions assigned ratings to each seat, with the rating indicating the predicted advantage that a party has in winning that seat.
Most election predictors use:
"tossup": no advantage "tilt" (used by some predictors): advantage that is not quite as strong as "lean" "lean": slight advantage "likely": significant, but surmountable, advantage "safe": near-certain chance of victory
+StatePVIIncumbentLastraceSabatoED Result AlabamaR+15 John Merrill 61.0% R Wes Allen ArizonaR+3 Katie Hobbs 50.4% D Adrian Fontes ArkansasR+16 John Thurston 61.6% R John Thurston CaliforniaD+14 Shirley Weber Appointed Shirley Weber ColoradoD+3 Jena Griswold 52.7% D Jena Griswold ConnecticutD+7 Mark Kohler Appointed Stephanie Thomas GeorgiaR+3 Brad Raffensperger 51.89% R Brad Raffensperger IdahoR+19 Lawerence Denney 62.5% R Phil McGrane IllinoisD+7 Jesse White 68.3% D Alexi Giannoulias IndianaR+11 Holli Sullivan Appointed Diego Morales IowaR+6 Paul Pate 52.7% R Paul Pate KansasR+11 Scott Schwab 52.6% R Scott Schwab MassachusettsD+14 William F. Galvin 70.8% D William F. Galvin MichiganR+1 Jocelyn Benson 52.9% D Jocelyn Benson MinnesotaD+1 Steve Simon 52.3% DFL Steve Simon NebraskaR+13 Bob Evnen 60.6% R Bob Evnen Nevada EVEN Barbara Cegavske 48.9% R Cisco Aguilar New MexicoD+3 Maggie Toulouse Oliver 57.8% D Maggie Toulouse Oliver North DakotaR+20 Alvin Jaeger 47.3% I Michael Howe OhioR+6 Frank LaRose 50.7% R Frank LaRose Rhode IslandD+8 Nellie Gorbea 67.4% D Gregg Amore South CarolinaR+8 Mark Hammond 57.1% R Mark Hammond South DakotaR+16 Steve Barnett 65.2% R Monae Johnson VermontD+15 James C. Condos 57.9% D Sarah Copeland-Hanzas Washington (special)D+8 Steve Hobbs Appointed Steve Hobbs WisconsinR+2 Doug La Follette 52.7% D Doug La Follette WyomingR+26 Karl Allred Appointed Chuck Gray
Race summary States State Secretaryof state Party Firstelected Status Candidates Alabama Republican 2014 Incumbent term-limited.New secretary elected.Republican hold. Arizona Democratic 2018 Incumbent retired to run for governor of Arizona.New secretary elected.<br/ >Democratic hold. Arkansas Republican 2018 Incumbent re-elected. California Democratic 2021 Interim appointee elected. Colorado Democratic 2018 Incumbent re-elected. Connecticut Democratic 2022 Interim appointee retired.New secretary elected.Democratic hold. Georgia Republican 2018 Incumbent re-elected. Idaho Republican 2014 Incumbent retired.New secretary elected.Republican hold. Illinois Democratic 1998 Incumbent retired.New secretary elected.Democratic hold. Indiana Republican 2021 Interim appointee lost nomination.New secretary elected.Republican hold. Iowa Republican 2014 Incumbent re-elected. Kansas Republican 2018 Incumbent re-elected. Massachusetts Democratic 1994 Incumbent re-elected. Michigan Democratic 2018 Incumbent re-elected. Minnesota DFL 2014 Incumbent re-elected. Nebraska Republican 2018 Incumbent re-elected. Bob Evnen (Republican) Nevada Republican 2014 Incumbent term-limited.New secretary elected.<br/ >Democratic gain. New Mexico Democratic 2016 Incumbent re-elected. North Dakota Republican 1992 Incumbent retired.New secretary elected.Republican hold. Ohio Republican 2018 Incumbent re-elected. Rhode Island Democratic 2014 Incumbent term-limited.New secretary elected.Democratic hold. South Carolina Republican 2002 Incumbent re-elected. South Dakota Republican 2018 Incumbent lost renomination.New secretary elected.Republican hold. Vermont Democratic 2010 Incumbent retired.New secretary elected.Democratic hold. Washington(special) Democratic 2021 Interim appointee elected. Wisconsin Democratic 1982 Incumbent re-elected. Wyoming Republican 2022 Interim appointee retired.New secretary elected.Republican hold. Chuck Gray (Republican)
Closest races States where the margin of victory was under 1%: Wisconsin, 0.29%
States where the margin of victory was under 5%: Nevada, 2.28% Washington, 3.95% Arizona, 4.77%
States where the margin of victory was under 10%: Minnesota, 9.16% Georgia, 9.24% Illinois, 9.73%
Blue denotes races won by Democrats. Red denotes races won by Republicans.
Alabama
Incumbent Republican John Merrill was term-limited. Republican state representative Wes Allen, election administrator Ed Packard, Alabama State Auditor Jim Zeigler and activist Christian Horn ran for the seat. Corrections officer Pamela Laffitte was the only Democratic candidate in that party's primary.
Allen won his runoff on June 21, while Laffitte won her primary on May 24.
Allen won the general election.
Arizona
Incumbent Democrat Katie Hobbs retired to run for governor.
Democratic primary candidates included minority leader of the Arizona House of Representatives Reginald Bolding and former Maricopa County recorder Adrian Fontes.
Republican primary candidates included state representatives Shawnna Bolick and Mark Finchem, advertising executive Beau Lane, and state senator Michelle Ugenti-Rita.
Fontes and Finchem won their respective primaries on August 2.
Fontes won the general election.
Arkansas
Incumbent Republican John Thurston ran for re-election. Former state representative Eddie Joe Williams unsuccessfully challenged Thurston in the Republican primary.
Democratic primary candidates included executive director of the Women's Foundation of Arkansas Anna Beth Gorman and former Pulaski County election commissioner Josh Price.
Thurston and Gorman won their respective primaries on May 24.
Thurston won re-election.
California
Incumbent Democrat Shirley Weber ran for election to a full term.
Republican primary candidates included chief financial officer Rob Bernosky, author Rachel Hamm, Teamster truck driver James "J. W." Paine, and retired warehouseman Raul Rodriguez Jr.
Teacher Gary B. Blenner ran as the Green Party candidate, while private investigator Matthew D. Cinquanta ran as an independent.
Weber and Bernosky advanced from the nonpartisan blanket primary on June 7.
Weber won re-election.
Colorado
Incumbent Democrat Jena Griswold ran for re-election.
Republican primary candidates included former Jefferson County clerk Pam Anderson, former head of the nonprofit Colorado Lending Source Mike O'Donnell, and Mesa County clerk Tina Peters. Walter James Rutledge ran as a Libertarian.
Griswold and Anderson won their respective primaries on June 28.
Griswold won re-election.
Connecticut
Incumbent Democrat Mark Kohler retired, having been appointed to the position after Denise Merrill resigned early. Democratic primary candidates included New Haven health director Maritza Bond and state representative Stephanie Thomas.
Republican primary candidates included Apple senior account manager Dominic Rapini, New Britain executive mayoral aide Brock Weber, and state representative Terrie Wood.
Environmental attorney Cynthia Jennings ran on the Independent Party of Connecticut ticket. Harold Harris ran as a Libertarian, while Douglas Lary ran as the Green Party candidate.
Thomas and Rapini won their respective primaries on August 9.
Thomas won the election.
Georgia
Incumbent Republican Brad Raffensperger ran for re-election. Other Republican candidates included U.S. Representative for Georgia's 10th congressional district Jody Hice, former Treutlen County probate judge T. J. Hudson, and former Alpharetta mayor David Belle Isle.
Democratic primary candidates included former state representative Dee Dawkins-Haigler, former Fulton County chairman John Eaves, former Milledgeville mayor Floyd Griffin, state representative Bee Nguyen, and former chair of the Cobb County Democratic party Michael Owens.
Ted Metz ran as a Libertarian.
Raffensperger won his primary on May 24, while Nguyen won her runoff on June 21.
Raffensperger won re-election in the general election.
Idaho
Incumbent Republican Lawerence Denney retired. Republican primary candidates included Ada County clerk Phil McGrane, state representative Dorothy Moon, and state senator Mary Souza.
Shawn Keenan was the only Democratic candidate.
McGrane and Keenan won their respective primaries on May 17.
McGrane won the general election.
Illinois
Incumbent Democrat Jesse White retired.
Democratic candidates included former Illinois state treasurer Alexi Giannoulias, Chicago alderman David Moore, Cook County resident Sidney Moore, and city clerk of Chicago Anna Valencia.
Republican candidates included deputy minority leader of the Illinois House of Representatives Dan Brady, former United States Attorney for the Central District of Illinois John C. Milhiser, and former Chicago police sergeant Michelle Turney.
Giannoulias and Brady won their respective primaries on June 28.
Giannoulias won the election.
Indiana