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Election results, 2023: Secretaries of State
There were three secretary of state seats on the ballot in 2023. These elections were in Kentucky, Louisiana, and Mississippi.
Heading into the election, Republicans held the secretary of state office in all three states. Republicans won all three secretary of state elections. Two incumbents ran for re-election, with both being re-elected.
Michael Adams (R) won re-election as Kentucky secretary of state and Michael Watson (R) won re-election as Mississippi secretary of state on November 7, 2023. Nancy Landry (R) won election as Louisiana secretary of state on November 18, 2023. Incumbent Kyle Ardoin (R) did not seek re-election.
In 2023, there were three triplexes — one Republican and two divided governments — on the ballot. A triplex is when one political party holds the following three statewide offices: governor, attorney general, and secretary of state. Louisiana was the only triplex to change partisan control. It changed from a divided government to a Republican triplex after Jeff Landry (R) was elected governor and Republicans retained control of the attorney general and secretary of state offices.
After the November 2023 elections, there were 25 Republican triplexes, 20 Democratic triplexes, and five divided governments where neither party held triplex control. Before the 2023 elections, there were 24 Republican triplexes, 20 Democratic triplexes, and six divided governments.
In 47 states — all except Alaska, Hawaii, and Utah — the secretary of state is among the top executive offices. 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.
Although the duties and powers of the secretary of state vary from state to state, a common responsibility is management and oversight of elections and voter rolls, which are assigned to the secretary of state in 41 states. Other common responsibilities include registration of businesses, maintenance of state records, and certification of official documents.
On this page, you will find:
- Recent news
- Offices on the ballot in 2023
- Partisan balance of all secretaries of state
- Seats up for election
- State government triplexes
- Links to other analyses
Offices on the ballot in 2023
In 2023, there were three secretary of state offices—all Republican—on the ballot. The table below highlights the partisan balance of those three positions before and after the election.
| Secretary of state seats up in 2023 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | As of the 2023 elections | After the 2023 elections | |
| Democratic Party | 0 | 0 | |
| Republican Party | 3 | 3 | |
| Uncalled races | |||
| Total | 3 | 3 | |
Partisan balance of all secretaries of state
Heading into the 2023 elections, there were 26 Republican secretaries of state and 21 Democratic secretaries of state. The table below highlights the partisan balance of all 47 secretaries of state before and after the 2023 elections.
The map below highlights each state by the party of its secretary of state once candidates elected in 2023 elections were sworn in.
Changes in partisan control
The map below highlights states that held secretary of state elections in 2023 by the party of the winning candidate.
Changes in triplex status
State government triplex is a term used to describe when one political party holds the following three statewide offices: governor, attorney general, and secretary of state.
After the November 2023 elections, there were 25 Republican triplexes, 20 Democratic triplexes, and five divided governments where neither party held triplex control. Republicans gained one triplex, Democrats neither gained nor lost any triplexes, and there was one less divided government. Before the 2023 elections, there were 24 Republican triplexes, 20 Democratic triplexes, and six divided governments.
In 2023, there were three triplexes — one Republican and two divided governments — on the ballot. Louisiana was the only triplex to change partisan control. It changed from a divided government to a Republican triplex after Jeff Landry (R) was elected governor and Republicans retained control of the attorney general and secretary of state offices.
Kentucky retained a divided government after Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear (D) and Kentucky Secretary of State Michael Adams (R) won re-election, and Russell Coleman (R) won the Kentucky attorney general election. Mississippi retained a Republican triplex after Governor Tate Reeves (R), Attorney General Lynn Fitch (R), and Secretary of State Michael Watson (R) all won re-election.
Pre-election analysis
Seats up for election
There were three Republican seats up for election in 2023. The table below shows what seats were up for election and the incumbent in each race.
| State | Triplex status (before) | Incumbent | Incumbent party | Incumbent ran? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kentucky | Divided triplex status |  Michael Adams |
 Republican |
Yes |
| Louisiana | Divided triplex status |  Kyle Ardoin |
Republican |
No[1] |
| Mississippi | Republican triplex |  Michael Watson |
Republican |
Yes |
Analysis of state elections, 2023
State legislative elections
- See also: State legislative elections, 2023
Eight of the country's 99 state legislative chambers held regularly-scheduled elections in 2023. Elections in those eight chambers represented 578 of the country's 7,386 state legislative seats (7.8%). This was the most seats up for election in an odd-numbered year since 2011.
General elections in Mississippi, New Jersey, and Virginia took place on November 7, 2023. General elections in Louisiana took place on November 18, 2023.
- Democrats gained one state legislative chamber by winning partisan control of the Virginia House of Delegates. Democrats maintained control of the state Senate. Virginia's trifecta status remained divided.
- Republicans were guaranteed simple majorities in both Mississippi's House and Senate and Louisiana's House and Senate due to the number of districts where candidates from only one political party ran.
- Democrats maintained partisan control of both chambers of the New Jersey state legislature.
Analysis
- State legislative special elections
- Impact of term limits
- Primary competitiveness
- Incumbents defeated
- Contested primaries
- Open seats
- Incumbents in contested primaries
- Major party competition
- Annual report
- Veto-proof state legislatures and opposing party governors
- Rematches in 2023 general elections
- Ballotpedia's Top 15 Elections to Watch, 2023
- Election results, 2023: State legislative veto-proof majorities
- Uncontested races by state
- Incumbent win rates by state
- Results of elected officials seeking other offices
- Minor-party candidates who won more than the margin of victory
- State legislative seats that changed party control
- State legislative races decided by fewer than 100 votes
- State legislative elections without a Democratic or Republican candidate, 2023
- Margin of victory analysis
- Candidates with the same last names
- Trends in the margins of victory for incumbents of three or more terms, 2018-2024
State executive elections
- See also: State executive official elections, 2023
Analysis
- State executive official elections overview
- Gubernatorial elections
- Secretary of State elections
- Attorney General elections
- Historical and potential changes in trifectas
- Trifecta vulnerability
- State government trifectas
- States with multiple statewide offices up for election
- State executive official elections without a Democratic or Republican candidate, 2023
- Impact of term limits
- Annual State Executive Competitiveness Report, 2023
- Ballotpedia's Top 15 Elections to Watch, 2023
- Uncontested races by state
- Incumbent win rates by state
- Trends in the margins of victory for incumbents of three or more terms, 2018-2024
State judicial elections
- See also: State judicial elections, 2023
A total of 15 state appellate court seats were up for election in 2023. This includes:
- 2 supreme court seats
- 13 intermediate appellate court seats.
The number of state supreme court and intermediate court elections is subject to change if judges retire or are appointed.
Ballotpedia provided coverage of supreme court and intermediate appellate court elections, as well as local trial court elections for judges within the 100 largest cities in the United States as measured by population.
Analysis
- State supreme court elections, 2023
- State judicial elections, 2023
- Ballotpedia's Top 15 Elections to Watch, 2023
- Uncontested races by state
- Incumbent win rates by state
- Trends in the margins of victory for incumbents of three or more terms, 2018-2024
Log of secretary of state election results
This section includes a timeline of secretary of state election results.
See also
- Secretary of State elections, 2023
- Election results, 2023
- Election results, 2023: Governors
- State executive official elections, 2023
- State government triplexes
Footnotes
