Jesse White (Illinois 2022 secretary of state candidate)

This article is about the 2022 Libertarian candidate for Illinois Secretary of State, Jesse White. For the former Democratic Illinois Secretary of State, see Jesse White (Illinois Secretary of State).

This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.

Jesse White

Libertarian Party

Education

High school

Centralia High School

Associate

Kaskaskia Community College, 2000

Personal

Birthplace

Centralia, Ill.

Profession

Manufacturing

Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Campaign Twitter

Jesse White (Libertarian Party) ran for election for Illinois Secretary of State. He did not appear on the ballot for the general election on November 8, 2022.

White completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Jesse White was born in Centralia, Illinois. He earned a high school diploma from Centralia High School and an associate degree from Kaskaskia Community College in 2000. His career experience includes working in manufacturing and as a wedding DJ. White has been affiliated with the Young Musicians Project in Centralia.

Elections

2022

See also: Illinois Secretary of State election, 2022

General election

General election for Illinois Secretary of State

Alexi Giannoulias defeated Dan Brady, Jon Stewart, and Michelle Turney in the general election for Illinois Secretary of State on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Alexi Giannoulias (D)	54.3	2,220,713
		Dan Brady (R)	43.6	1,783,070
		Jon Stewart (L)	2.1	87,092
	Submit photo	Michelle Turney (Independent) (Write-in)	0.0	73

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 4,090,948
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Jesse White (L)

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Illinois Secretary of State

Alexi Giannoulias defeated Anna Valencia, David Moore, and Sidney Moore in the Democratic primary for Illinois Secretary of State on June 28, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Alexi Giannoulias	52.1	452,221
		Anna Valencia	35.0	303,671
		David Moore	9.0	77,983
		Sidney Moore	3.9	33,762

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 867,637
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Michael Hastings (D)
• Pat Dowell (D)

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Illinois Secretary of State

Dan Brady defeated John Milhiser in the Republican primary for Illinois Secretary of State on June 28, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Dan Brady	76.4	550,700
	Submit photo	John Milhiser	23.6	170,496

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 721,196
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Michelle Turney (R)

Campaign themes

2022

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Jesse White completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by White's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I was born and raised in Centralia, Illinois and I still live and work in the area today. I have always been community minded whether its repairing homes in my area, coaching youth baseball or even being a DJ at weddings. I have never used a position of power to enrich myself, family or friends. I will have zero tolerance for unethical behavior in the Secretary of State’s office. This position is vital to making our state people oriented and business friendly. I want to continue the progress we’ve made in making Driver Services and other divisions to be more innovative, modernized and accountable than ever before. I’m asking you to join me today in my campaign.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• I will lower wait times at driver services by expanding the reservation system. I will also utilize online services and establish self-service kiosks at convenient locations around the state to reduce the need to physically go to the DMV.
• This office is in charge of fighting cybercrime in Illinois. I will increase funding for cybersecurity. I also will create an Office of Records so citizens can correct information that is improperly entered in the database.
• I will push for new legislation so the Secretary of State Police can assist with any corruption investigation throughout the state. Illinois lobbyists have had too much influence in all levels of government. As the state record keeper, the SoS Police are best able to investigate these crimes. I have zero tollerence for unethical behavior in state government.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

I'm personally passionate about our library system. The Secretary of State is the chief librarian of the state and awards millions of dollars in grants to library systems throughout Illinois. I would like to expand these grants particularly for our rural communities. The local library often has the fastest internet connection in these communities. We can instill a sense of hope and access to markets and knowledge that is difficult to do anymore without fast internet access. Local libraries are fundamental to the sense of community that makes small towns thrive. Community spirit attracts people, resources and businesses to locations and as Secretary of State, it's my duty to facilitate that as much as possible.

What qualities does this office possess that makes it a unique and important part of the state government and legal system?

Most people in Illinois know the Secretary of State is in charge of Driver Services. The office is integral to people's lives by issuing ID cards, drivers licenses and registering vehicles. The last is becoming more important as some online auto dealers are not notifying the office properly of vehicle sales. This can cloud vehicle owner's titles and it can take time to unwind poor title work. Auto loans are 13% of all lending in the United States and I take auto titling very seriously. Poor title work harms the public as well as banks that lend money for vehicle loans. I will work to ensure that we keep our record keeping practices and protect the public in this matter.

The Secretary of State is responsible for other records as well and keeping them secure. The Secretary of State Police play an important role in Illinois government. They are responsible for preventing and investigating cybercrime. They are responsible for investigating auto theft and also provide a lot of inter-governmental services for downstate counties. A great example is that the Secretary of State Police bomb squad. Many small cities and counties do not have the resources and tax base to support this highly technical and sophisticated unit on their own. The Secretary of State Police provide this service and even provide investigation and technical support to larger counties that have their own units.

The Secretary of State's office also maintains the criminal database for the State of Illinois. This requires all 102 counties to share information in a format that is accessible to the others. It also requires the office to be in compliance with Illinois' strict privacy laws. I will work to ensure that our privacy laws are enforced on both the public and private sector.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

The most important quality that the Secretary of State can have is to be very principled in ethics. The Secretary of State's office regulates lobbyists and several of them are now currently under Federal indictment for bribing public officials. As Secretary of State, I will comply and assist with all investigations. This office maintains all records of state government and those records are crucial to proving someone's innocence or guilt. It is my job as Secretary of State to ensure that all records are maintained properly. I personally know of instances where the criminal database has had incorrect information and lead to the wrong person being arrested or accused of something they did not do. My administration will establish an Office of Records where citizens can ask to review their database information and rectify any incorrect information. This can reduce workloads for our law enforcement officers as well as our other agencies. I'm committed to ensuring that our records have the correct information and rectifying those records promptly if they are not.

Are there any little-known powers or responsibilities held by this office that you believe more people should be aware of?

In Illinois, organ donation is managed through the Secretary of State's office. This life giving service goes hand in hand with donor registration at driver services. Our office is fully complaint with all HIPPA regulations around organ donation and facilitates matching donors with recipients. To find out more go to www.lifegoeson.com.

The Secretary of State's office manages the state talking book and braille service library. This is a critical resource for vision-impaired individuals to learn new information or just enjoy the latest best seller. The Office, in conjunction with the Illinois Library Association, also gives out the Alexander J. Skrzypek Award to those librarians who make an outstanding contribution to library services for the blind and physically disabled. Mr. Skrzypek was one of the first librarians for the vision-impaired and instrumental in passing a law allowing the Library of Congress to provide special services to accomodate vision-impaired citizens.

The Secretary of State's office also maintains war records for the State of Illinois up until World War I. For history buffs, this is very useful information as service records may be incomplete at the Dept. of Defense, particularly with Civil War documents. The Office also maintains a number of documents related to Abraham Lincoln and other historical figures in Illinois.

Do you believe that it's beneficial for holders of this office to have previous experience in government or politics?

I do not think it is necessary to have previous governmental experience for this office. Given the level of corruption in state government and the City of Chicago, I think it is best elect an outsider. The Office regulates lobbyists and monitors their interactions with government officials. Our citizens deserve a Secretary that is impartial and ethical. The Secretary of State's Office is critical to running the bureaucracy of the state and keeping everything running smoothly. Many of the Office's employees know how these systems are run and I will not change these practices on a whim. My directive will be to continue to act ethically, report any improper behavior and work to improve services to our state.

The Secretary of State also needs to pay attention to detail. I am familiar with some of the functions of the office as many people in my home town confused my personal phone number with that of the Drivers Services office. For many years, I received phone calls about Drivers Services and business licensing. I answered what I could. I even filed some complaints about poor customer service for people who mistakenly called me. I also had the number for the actual office on my fridge to give out if someone needed to speak with the office rather than just have questions.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

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