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Louisiana Secretary of State election, 2023
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← 2019
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| Louisiana Secretary of State |
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| Primary election General election |
| Election details |
| Filing deadline: August 10, 2023 |
| Primary: October 14, 2023 General: November 18, 2023 Pre-election incumbent(s): Kyle Ardoin (Republican) |
| How to vote |
| Poll times: 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. (Saturday elections) Voting in Louisiana |
| Ballotpedia analysis |
| Federal and state primary competitiveness State executive elections in 2023 Impact of term limits in 2023 State government trifectas State government triplexes Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2023 |
| Louisiana executive elections |
| Governor Lieutenant Governor |
Nancy Landry (R) defeated Gwen Collins-Greenup (D) in the Nov. 18 general election for Louisiana Secretary of State. Incumbent Kyle Ardoin (R) did not for re-election.
Louisiana’s secretary of state is the state’s chief election officer. According to Louisiana Illuminator's Greg LaRose, the winner of the 2023 election “should expect a fairly intense spotlight" since they would be responsible for "replacing the voting machines the state uses, a process current office holder Kyle Ardoin has had to restart twice.”[1]
According to the Louisiana Department of State, voter turnout in the election was 22%.[2] That's lower than the 51% turnout in 2019, when the gubernatorial election was also decided in November. In 2023, the gubernatorial election was decided in the Oct. 14 primary after Jeff Landry (R) won more than 50% of the vote.
Landry and Collins-Greenup advanced from the all-party primary on Oct. 14, 2023. Landry received 19.4% of the vote, followed by Collins-Greenup with 19.2%. In Louisiana, if no candidate wins more than 50% in the primary, the top two vote-getters advance to the general election, regardless of their partisan affiliation.
Landry, a former state representative, had served as Louisiana’s First Assistant Secretary of State since 2019. Landry campaigned on her experience: “While serving as First Assistant Secretary of State, I gained the critical experience needed for the upcoming elections and beyond. With everything on the line, 2024 might be the most important election in our lifetime. There is no time for a Secretary of State who needs on-the-job training.”[3] Former President Donald Trump (R) endorsed Landry on Nov. 16.[4]
Collins-Greenup, a private attorney, ran for secretary of state in 2019 and in the 2018 special election.[5] She advanced to the general election in both years, losing to Ardoin 59-41% on both occasions. Collins-Greenup said she ran "to strengthen our businesses, secure our elections, and protect every eligible Louisiana citizen's right to vote."[6]
Both Landry and Greenup said they would replace the state's voting machines with machines that count ballots electronically, but leave a paper trail, something the state’s current machines don’t do.[7]
Ardoin announced he would not run for re-election in April 2023, citing criticism surrounding how his office administered elections in the state. Ardoin said it was “shameful and outright dangerous that a small minority of vocal individuals [had] chosen to denigrate the hard work of [his office’s] election staff and spread unproven falsehoods.”[8]
From 2003 to 2023, four elections for secretary of state advanced to a general election, while four were decided in the primary. The last Democrat elected to the office was W. Fox McKeithen in 1987.[9] McKeithen switched parties in 1989 and served in the position as a Republican until his death in office in 2005.[10]
This page is about the general election for Louisiana Secretary of State. For more information about the primary election, click the link below:
Candidates and election results
Louisiana elections use the majority-vote system. All candidates compete in the same primary, and a candidate can win the election outright by receiving more than 50 percent of the vote. If no candidate does, the top two vote recipients from the primary advance to the general election, regardless of their partisan affiliation.
General election
General election for Louisiana Secretary of State
Nancy Landry defeated Gwen Collins-Greenup in the general election for Louisiana Secretary of State on November 18, 2023.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Nancy Landry (R) | 66.8 | 446,494 |
 | Gwen Collins-Greenup (D) | 33.2 | 221,739 | |
| Total votes: 668,233 | |||
 = 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. | ||||
Nonpartisan primary election
Nonpartisan primary for Louisiana Secretary of State
The following candidates ran in the primary for Louisiana Secretary of State on October 14, 2023.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Nancy Landry (R) | 19.3 | 197,514 |
| ✔ | | Gwen Collins-Greenup (D) | 19.2 | 196,534 |
 | Mike Francis (R) | 17.9 | 182,842 | |
 | Clay Schexnayder (R) | 14.7 | 149,987 | |
 | Arthur Morrell (D) | 11.1 | 113,703 | |
 | Thomas Kennedy III (R) | 10.1 | 102,628 | |
 | Brandon Trosclair (R) | 6.3 | 64,686 | |
 | Amanda Smith Jennings (Independent) | 1.3 | 13,275 | |
| Total votes: 1,021,169 | |||
| = 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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See more
Voting information
- See also: Voting in Louisiana
Candidate comparison
Candidate profiles
This section includes candidate profiles that may be created in one of two ways: either the candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey, or Ballotpedia staff may compile a profile based on campaign websites, advertisements, and public statements after identifying the candidate as noteworthy. For more on how we select candidates to include, click here.
Party: Democratic Party
Incumbent: No
Political Office: None
Biography: Collins-Greenup received a J.D. from the Southern University Law Center. She also received a bachelor's degree and master's degrees in Accounting, Human Services Counseling, and Divinity from Liberty University. Collins-Greenup worked in the private sector for 20 years before founding Greenup Law, L.L.C., a law firm based in Baton Rouge. She also served as president of the Baton Rouge Independent Title Attorneys (BRITA).
Show sources
This information was current as of the candidate's run for Louisiana Secretary of State in 2023.
Party: Republican Party
Incumbent: No
Political Office:
Louisiana House of Representatives - District 31 (2008-2019)
Biography: Landry received a B.A. and a law degree from Louisiana State University. After graduating, Landry worked for Westlaw, a legal publishing company, and served as a clerk in the 15th Judicial District Family Court. She later went into private practice.
Show sources
This information was current as of the candidate's run for Louisiana Secretary of State in 2023.
Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey responses
Ballotpedia asks all federal, state, and local candidates to complete a survey and share what motivates them on political and personal levels. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
No candidate in this race completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey.
Campaign ads
This section includes a selection of up to three campaign advertisements per candidate released in this race, as well as links to candidates' YouTube, Vimeo, and/or Facebook video pages. If you are aware of other links that should be included, please email us.
Gwen Collins-Greenup
| October 14, 2023 |
View more ads here:
Nancy Landry
| September 7, 2023 |
View more ads here:
Election competitiveness
Polls
- See also: Ballotpedia's approach to covering polls
We provide results for polls that are included in polling aggregation from FiveThirtyEight and RealClearPolitics, when available. No polls were available for this election. To notify us of polls published in this election, please email us.
Endorsements
If you are aware of candidates in this race who published endorsement lists on their campaign websites, please email us..
Elections spending
Campaign finance
Candidates in this election submitted campaign finance reports to the Louisiana Ethics Administration Program.
Click here to access those reports.
Election context
Election history
2019
Louisiana elections use the majority-vote system. All candidates compete in the same primary, and a candidate can win the election outright by receiving more than 50 percent of the vote. If no candidate does, the top two vote recipients from the primary advance to the general election, regardless of their partisan affiliation.
General election
General election for Louisiana Secretary of State
Incumbent Kyle Ardoin defeated Gwen Collins-Greenup in the general election for Louisiana Secretary of State on November 16, 2019.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Kyle Ardoin (R) | 59.1 | 867,607 |
| Gwen Collins-Greenup (D) | 40.9 | 601,126 | |
| Total votes: 1,468,733 (100.00% precincts reporting) | |||
| = 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. | ||||
Nonpartisan primary election
Nonpartisan primary for Louisiana Secretary of State
Incumbent Kyle Ardoin and Gwen Collins-Greenup defeated Thomas Kennedy III and Amanda Smith in the primary for Louisiana Secretary of State on October 12, 2019.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Kyle Ardoin (R) | 41.1 | 528,253 |
| ✔ | | Gwen Collins-Greenup (D) | 33.8 | 434,587 |
| Thomas Kennedy III (R) | 19.0 | 244,646 | |
 | Amanda Smith (R) | 6.1 | 78,986 | |
| Total votes: 1,286,472 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
2018
Louisiana elections use the majority-vote system. All candidates compete in the same primary, and a candidate can win the election outright by receiving more than 50 percent of the vote. If no candidate does, the top two vote recipients from the primary advance to the general election, regardless of their partisan affiliation.
General election
Special general election for Louisiana Secretary of State
Incumbent Kyle Ardoin defeated Gwen Collins-Greenup in the special general election for Louisiana Secretary of State on December 8, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Kyle Ardoin (R) | 59.3 | 306,568 |
| Gwen Collins-Greenup (D) | 40.7 | 210,085 | |
| Total votes: 516,653 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
Nonpartisan primary election
Special nonpartisan primary for Louisiana Secretary of State
The following candidates ran in the special primary for Louisiana Secretary of State on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Kyle Ardoin (R) | 20.5 | 298,657 |
| ✔ | | Gwen Collins-Greenup (D) | 19.8 | 289,097 |
 | Renee Fontenot Free (D) | 16.4 | 239,116 | |
 | Rick Edmonds (R) | 11.3 | 164,955 | |
 | Julie Stokes (R) | 11.2 | 163,773 | |
| Thomas Kennedy III (R) | 9.4 | 137,050 | |
 | A.G. Crowe (R) | 4.9 | 71,495 | |
 | Heather Cloud (R) | 4.9 | 71,195 | |
| Matthew Moreau (Independent) | 1.5 | 21,579 | ||
| Total votes: 1,456,917 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
2023 battleground elections
- See also: Battlegrounds
This election was a battleground race. Other 2023 battleground elections included:
- Mayoral election in Chicago, Illinois (February 28, 2023, general election)
- Utah's 2nd Congressional District special election, 2023 (September 5 Republican primary)
- Virginia State Senate elections, 2023
See also
| Louisiana | State Executive Elections | News and Analysis |
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External links
Footnotes
- ↑ The Louisiana Illuminator, "Why you shouldn’t sleep on the Louisiana secretary of state’s race this fall," August 17, 2023
- ↑ Louisiana Department of State, "Unofficial Results," accessed November 20, 2023
- ↑ Nancy Landry for Secretary of State, "Home," accessed August 25, 2023
- ↑ Truth Social, "Donald J. Trump." November 16, 2023
- ↑ Gwen Greenup-Collins for Secretary of State, "Meet Gwen," accessed August 25, 2023
- ↑ Gwen Greenup-Collins for Secretary of State, "Home," accessed August 25, 2023
- ↑ NOLA, "Louisiana secretary of state, treasurer candidates differ in approach," October 30, 2023
- ↑ The Louisiana Illuminator, "Kyle Ardoin won’t seek re-election for Secretary of State," April 11, 2023
- ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, "Results for Election Date: 11/21/1987," accessed 9/10/2023
- ↑ The Washington Post, " Democrats See Favorable Numbers, Hard Wins in Southern House Bids," March 29, 2998
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