Treasurer

State Executive Offices

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Elections by Year

2014 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011 • 2010

In the United States, the Treasurer of a state is the official charged with overseeing revenue and finances and generally acting as the state's chief banker. Every state in the United States has a treasurer, though some have a different official title for the office. In New York and Texas there is no treasurer -- instead, those duties are performed by the Controller.

Most states elect the treasurer; Of those states, it is common for treasurer to be a constitutional executive office. Some states, however, treat the position as a member of the Governor's Cabinet, thus making the position a gubernatorial appointment.

As opposed to treasurers in the corporate world, state treasurers are often elected partisan offices who administer various programs and have control over financial decisions without being involved in the highly detailed day-to-day bookkeeping and accounting.

In some states, the treasurer may share financial duties with a Comptroller, a Chief Financial Officer, and an Auditor. Areas that often fall under a Treasurer's job description include:

• Debt management and debt policy
• Disaster preparation
• Pension fund administration
• Oversight to prevent fraud with public money
• Payroll matters for public employees
• Investing public funds and managing portfolios

Political parties

The chart below is a breakdown of the political parties pertaining to the state executive office of treasurer. For other state executive offices, click here.

Office	Democratic	Republican	Independent	Nonpartisan	Total seats
Treasurer	17	19	0	12	48
Counts current as of May 2013. If you see an error, please email us

Elected vs. Appointed

Treasurers are elected in 37 states. Others are appointed by the governor of elected by the state legislature.

While some states authorize the governor to appoint an individual to the office of treasurer, 37 others have opted to have public voters select the office holders. These states include Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

The state of Tennessee is the sole state that calls for a legislatively elected treasurer.

Quick facts about treasurers
There are 16 Democratic, 21 Republican, and 13 Non-Partisan treasurers. In 37 states the position is elected. In the remaining 13 states the position is appointed. Tennessee is the sole state that calls for a legislatively elected treasurer.

Election history

2012

See also: State executive official elections, 2012

Nine states held treasurer elections in the 2012 electoral cycle: Missouri, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Utah, Vermont, Washington, and West Virginia.

Going into the November 6 elections, Democrats held seven of the seats up and Republicans held two. No seats changed party hands.

2011

See also: State executive official elections, 2011

Three states, Kentucky, Louisiana, and Mississippi, held scheduled elections for treasurer in the 2011 electoral cycle. Two of the seats that were up for election were held by a Republican while another was held by a Democrat. Only one incumbent treasurer, Mississippi's Tate Reeves, did not run for re-election in 2011.

See also

• State executive offices
• State executive official elections, 2012
• State executive official elections, 2014

External links

• National Association of State Treasurers
• Association of Public Treasurers of the United States and Canada