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Secretary of State elections, 2020

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There were seven secretary of state offices on the ballot in 2020. These elections were in Missouri, Montana, North Carolina, Oregon, Vermont, Washington, and West Virginia.

Democrats picked up one office in 2020. In Oregon, Shemia Fagan (D) won election, succeeding Bev Clarno (R). All five incumbents who sought re-election won. Republicans maintained Montana's office in an open-seat election.

As a result of state executive elections in 2020, Montana transitioned from divided control to a Republican triplex, and Oregon transitioned from divided control to a Democratic triplex. A triplex exists when one party holds the offices of governor, attorney general, and secretary of state. Click here for more information.

Partisan breakdown

Partisan Breakdown: Secretaries of State
Party As of November 2020 After the 2020 Election
     Democratic Party 20 21
     Republican Party 26 25
     Independent 1 1
Total 47 47

Offices that changed party hands

Democrats picked up one secretary of state office in the 2020 elections. In Oregon, Shemia Fagan (D) won election, succeeding Bev Clarno (R). Clarno did not run in 2020. Gov. Kate Brown (D) appointed Clarno on March 29, 2019. Clarno succeeded Dennis Richardson (R), who died while in office on February 26.[1][1]

Election results

Secretary of State races, 2020
Race Pre-election incumbent Post-election incumbent
Missouri Republican Party Jay Ashcroft Republican Party Jay Ashcroft
Montana Republican Party Corey Stapleton Republican Party Christi Jacobsen
North Carolina Democratic Party Elaine Marshall Democratic Party Elaine Marshall
Oregon Republican Party Bev Clarno Democratic Party Shemia Fagan
Vermont Democratic Party Jim Condos Democratic Party Jim Condos
Washington Republican Party Kim Wyman Republican Party Kim Wyman
West Virginia Republican Party Mac Warner Republican Party Mac Warner

Margin of victory analysis

The following tables detail the margin of victory for winning candidates from the previous three elections in states that held secretary of state elections in 2020. Vermont holds secretary of state elections every two years, whereas the other six states hold those elections every four years. Vermont's margin of victory analysis is featured in a separate table below.

Margin of victory analysis, 2008-2020
State 2020 margin of victory 2016 margin of victory 2012 margin of victory 2008 margin of victory
Missouri R+24.1 R+19.2 D+1.5 D+26.2
Montana R+19.2 R+14.5 D+6.3 D+1.1
North Carolina D+2.4 D+4.4 D+7.6 D+13.6
Oregon D+7.1 R+4.2 D+8.1 D+5.2
Washington R+7.3 R+9.5 R+0.8 R+21.6
West Virginia R+16.6 R+1.7 D+24.8 R+31.0


Margin of victory analysis, 2014-2020
State 2020 margin of victory 2018 margin of victory 2016 margin of victory 2014 margin of victory
Vermont D+33.2 D+37.3 D+79.1 D+60.2

Incumbents defeated

No incumbent secretaries of state were defeated in 2020. Incumbents sought and won re-election in five states.

Incumbents not seeking election

Offices that changed party hands in 2019

Battlegrounds

Montana

See also: Montana Secretary of State election, 2020

Christi Jacobsen (R) defeated Bryce Bennett (D) in the general election for Montana Secretary of State on November 3, 2020. Incumbent Corey Stapleton (R) did not run for re-election, instead running in the Republican primary for Montana's At-Large Congressional District.

In 2016, Stapleton defeated Monica Lindeen (D) 55% to 41%. Before the 2016 election, a Democrat had held the office since 2009.

In Montana, the secretary of state’s office oversees five divisions:

  • The Elections and Government Services Division, which oversees elections and voter registration.
  • The Administrative Rules Services Division, which performs administrative state law duties like filing rule notices, rule adoptions, and interpretations, and publishing the state register twice a month.
  • The Business Services Division, which registers business entities, trademarks, assumed business names, and liens made under the Uniform Commercial Code and Federal Food Security Act.
  • The Certification and Notaries Division, which licenses and trains notaries public and certifies documents.
  • The Records Management Bureau, which maintains the records of state and local governments.

Montana was one of 14 states under divided triplex control, meaning control of the top executive positions was split between the parties or one or more of the positions are held by independent or nonpartisan officers not appointed by the governor. Both the secretary of state and attorney general were Republicans and the governor was a Democrat. In 2020, Montana was holding open-seat elections, meaning no incumbents were running, for all three of these offices. To read more about the gubernatorial election, click here, and to read more about the election for attorney general, click here.

Oregon

See also: Oregon Secretary of State election, 2020

Shemia Fagan (D) defeated Kim Thatcher (R), Kyle Markley (L), and Nathalie Paravicini (Pacific Green Party) in the general election for Oregon Secretary of State on November 3, 2020. Incumbent Bev Clarno (R) did not run for re-election, which Governor Kate Brown (D) made a condition of her appointment after the death of former Secretary of State Dennis Richardson (R).[2]

Richardson was first elected in 2016, defeating Brad Avakian (D) 47% to 43%. In Oregon, the secretary of state is first in line for the governor's office in the case of a vacancy. Brown was the secretary of state before Richardson and became governor after John Kitzhaber (D) resigned in 2015. Democrats held the secretary of state seat from 1985 to 2017.

In Oregon, the secretary of state oversees the Elections Division, which performs election administration and oversight, the Audits Division, which provides oversight of public spending, the Corporations Division, which administers business filings, and the Archives Division, which maintains the official records of Oregon government.

If the Oregon state Legislature fails to establish a redistricting plan for state legislative districts, the secretary of state intervenes to draw the boundaries. In 2011, the Legislature redrew congressional and legislative districts without changes from the secretary of state or the courts. It was the first time this had happened since 1911.[3] Oregon’s next round of redistricting was scheduled for 2021, following the publication of the National Census.[4]

Washington

See also: Washington Secretary of State election, 2020

Incumbent Kim Wyman (R) defeated Gael Tarleton (D) in the election for Washington secretary of state on November 3, 2020. In the August 4 top-two primary, Wyman received 51% to Tarleton's 43%.

Wyman was first elected in 2012. In 2016, she defeated Democrat Tina Podlodowski 55% to 45%. Tarleton had served in the Washington House of Representatives since 2013.

The secretary of state is Washington's chief elections officer, chief corporations officer, and supervisor of the State Archives. The secretary of state oversees key parts of the state's ballot initiative process.

Washington last elected a Democratic secretary of state in 1960.[5] Republicans held two statewide positions in 2020: secretary of state and treasurer.[6]

Washington was one of 14 states with divided triplex control in 2020, meaning control of the top executive positions was split between the parties or independent or nonpartisan officers not appointed by the governor held one or more of the positions. Washington's governor and attorney general were Democrats, while the secretary of state was a Republican.

Triplexes

See also: Election results, 2020: State government triplexes
State government triplexes

Thirteen states held elections for one or more triplex offices on November 3, 2020. A state government triplex occurs when the governor, attorney general, and secretary of state in a given state are all members of the same political party.

In the November 3 elections, Republicans and Democrats each gained triplex status in one state.

Heading into 2020, there were 36 state government triplexes: 19 Republican triplexes and 17 Democratic triplexes. The remaining 14 states were under divided control, meaning neither party had a triplex. As a result of the November 3 elections, the total number of triplexes increased to 38: 20 Republican triplexes and 18 Democratic triplexes. Twelve states remained under divided control.

Montana

As a result of the 2020 elections, Montana transitioned from divided control to a Republican triplex. Republicans flipped the governor's office and maintained control of the secretary of state and attorney general offices.

Oregon

As a result of the 2020 elections, Oregon transitioned from divided control to a Democratic triplex. Democrats flipped the secretary of state's office and maintained control of the attorney general office. Incumbent Gov. Kate Brown (D) was not up for re-election in 2020.


Changes in triplex status
Democratic triplexes Republican triplexes Divided control
Before 2020 election 17 19 14
After 2020 election 18 20 12



Historical control

In 1977, the Democratic Party held a total of 25 elected secretary of state offices to the Republican Party's 10. The Democratic lead in secretary of state offices narrowed somewhat throughout the 1980s, but once again reached a 25-10 majority of elected offices in 1989 and 1990. Following the 1994 midterm elections, the Republican Party gained an 18-17 majority of elected secretary of state offices. The Democrats would regain their lead following the 2008 presidential election but lose it once again in the 2010 midterm elections. The gap between the parties widened following the 2016 elections, which increased the Republican majority of elected secretary of state offices from 21-14 to 24-11. In the 2018 elections, Democrats gained three offices while Republicans lost a fourth to an independent, narrowing the gap to 20-14. Republicans picked up one office in 2019, for a breakdown of 21-13.

About the office

See also: Secretary of State (state executive office)

The secretary of state is a state-level position in 47 of the 50 states. The position does not exist in Alaska, Hawaii and Utah. In Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Virginia, the office is called the secretary of the commonwealth and differs only in name. The voters directly elect the secretary of state in 35 states. In the other 12, the secretary is appointed by either the governor or the state legislature.

The position's duties are generally administrative, and no two states have identical responsibilities delegated to the secretary of state. Many are tasked with keeping state records, from registering businesses to recording the official acts of the governor. The officeholder also often serves as the chief election official in their state, administering state elections and maintaining official election results. The commissioning and regulation of notaries public, keeping of the official state seal, and certification of official documents all typically fall under the purview of the secretary of state.

Although the position of secretary of state is popularly elected in the majority of states, it is an appointed position in 12 states. Of those 12, the governor is given the power of appointment in nine, while the state Legislature appoints the secretary of state in the remaining three.

Analysis of state elections

See also: Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2020


In November 2020, regular elections were held for 86 of 99 state legislative chambers, plus 11 gubernatorial offices, nine lieutenant gubernatorial offices, 10 attorney general offices, and seven secretary of state offices.

Election analysis

All state elections

Trifectas

State executive elections

State legislative elections

State ballot measures


See also


External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Governor's Office, "Governor Brown Appoints Former Oregon Speaker of the House Bev Clarno as Secretary of State," March 29, 2019
  2. ↑ Oregon Public Broadcasting, "Bev Clarno, Former House Speaker, Will Be Oregon's Next Secretary Of State," March 29, 2019
  3. ↑ City Club of Portland, "Lines That Don't Divide: A City Club of Portland report on improving Oregon's redistricting process," February 17, 2012
  4. ↑ Oregon Secretary of State, "Redistricting Reform Task Force," accessed October 7, 2020
  5. ↑ Washington Secretary of State, "Washington's Secretaries of State - Past and Present," accessed October 13, 2020
  6. ↑ Associated Press, "Voters weigh in on statewide offices on primary election day," August 4, 2020
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Council of State Governments, "Book of the States 2017 - Secretaries of State: Election and Registration Duties," accessed December 3, 2017
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