2024 United States secretary of state elections

For related races, see 2024 United States elections.

2024 United States secretary of state elections

←  2023 November 5, 2024 2026  →
7 Secretary of State offices
Majority party Minority party   Party Republican Democratic Seats before 26 21 Seats after 26 21 Seat change Popular vote 7,848,361 8,016,218 Percentage 48.92% 49.96% Seats up 3 4 Seats won 3 4
Democratic hold      Republican hold      No election

The 2024 United States Secretary of State elections were held on November 5, 2024, to elect the Secretaries of State in seven states. These elections took place concurrently with several other federal, state, and local elections.

The elections for Secretary of State had taken on heightened importance due to former President Donald Trump's claims that the 2020 election was stolen. ^[1]

The previous elections for this group of states took place in 2020. The secretary of state of Vermont serves two-year terms and was last elected in 2022.

Going into the election, there were 26 Republican secretaries of state and 21 Democratic secretaries of state. 4 Democratic secretaries of state were up for election, of whom LaVonne Griffin-Valade of Oregon retired. 3 Republican secretaries of state were up for election, of whom Jay Ashcroft of Missouri and Mac Warner of West Virginia retired.

Partisan composition

Going into these elections, this class of secretaries of state was made up of 4 Democrats and 3 Republicans. Democrats were defending one state won by Donald Trump in 2020 (North Carolina), while Republicans did not hold any states won by Joe Biden.

Election predictions

Several sites and individuals published predictions of competitive seats. These predictions looked at factors such as the strength of the incumbent (if the incumbent is running for re-election), the strength of the candidates, and the partisan leanings of the state (reflected in part by the state's Cook Partisan Voting Index rating). The predictions assigned ratings to each seat, with the rating indicating the predicted advantage that a party has in winning that seat.

Most election predictors use:

• "tossup": no advantage
• "tilt" (used by some predictors): advantage that is not quite as strong as "lean"
• "lean": slight advantage
• "likely": significant, but surmountable, advantage
• "safe" or "solid" : near-certain chance of victory

State	PVI	Incumbent [2]	Sabato [3] January 31, 2024	Result
Missouri	R+10	Jay Ashcroft (retiring)	Solid R	Hoskins 57.7% R
Montana	R+11	Christi Jacobsen	Safe R	Jacobsen 61.4% R
North Carolina	R+3	Elaine Marshall	Lean D	Marshall 51.2% D
Oregon	D+6	LaVonne Griffin-Valade (retiring)	Safe D	Read 54.45% D
Vermont	D+16	Sarah Copeland Hanzas	Solid D	Copeland Hanzas 59.61% D
Washington	D+8	Steve Hobbs	Safe D	Hobbs 59.2% D
West Virginia	R+22	Mac Warner	Safe R	Kris Warner 71.15% R

Race summary

State	Secretary of State	Party	First elected	Status	Candidates
Missouri	Jay Ashcroft	Republican	2016	Incumbent retired to run for governor. [4] Republican hold.	▌Y Denny Hoskins (Republican) 57.7% ▌ Barbara Phifer (Democratic) 39.7% ▌Carl Freese (Libertarian) 1.7% ▌Jerome Bauer (Green) 1.0%
Montana	Christi Jacobsen	Republican	2020	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Christi Jacobsen (Republican) 61.39% ▌Jesse Mullen (Democratic) 35.49% ▌John Lamb (Libertarian) 3.12%
North Carolina	Elaine Marshall	Democratic	1996	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Elaine Marshall (Democratic) 51.04% ▌Chad Brown (Republican) 48.96%
Oregon	LaVonne Griffin-Valade	Democratic	2023 (appointed)	Interim appointee retired. [5] Democratic hold.	▌Y Tobias Read (Democratic) 54.45% ▌ Dennis Linthicum (Republican) 41.9% ▌Nathalie Paravicini (Pacific Green) 3.56%
Vermont	Sarah Copeland Hanzas	Democratic	2022	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Sarah Copeland Hanzas (Democratic) 59.61% ▌ H. Brooke Paige (Republican) 40.25%
Washington	Steve Hobbs	Democratic	2022	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Steve Hobbs (Democratic) 59.2% ▌Dale Whitaker (Republican) 40.7%
West Virginia	Mac Warner	Republican	2016	Incumbent retired to run for governor. [6] Republican hold.	▌Y Kris Warner (Republican) 71.15% ▌Thornton Cooper (Democratic) 28.85%

Closest races

States where the margin of victory was between 1% and 5%:

1. North Carolina, 2.08%

Blue denotes races won by Democrats. Red denotes races won by Republicans.

Missouri

Main article: 2024 Missouri Secretary of State election

Missouri Secretary of State election

←  2020 2028 →

Nominee Denny Hoskins Barbara Phifer Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 1,677,902 1,154,090 Percentage 57.7% 39.7%

County results Hoskins:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90% Phifer:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%

Secretary of State before election Jay Ashcroft Republican Elected Secretary of State Denny Hoskins Republican

Incumbent Republican Jay Ashcroft was eligible to serve a third term, but has instead decided to run for governor. ^[4]

State senator Denny Hoskins defeated businesswoman Valentina Gomez, state senate President pro tempore Caleb Rowden, Greene County clerk Shane Schoeller and state representative Adam Schwadron to win the Republican primary. ^{[7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]}

State representative Barbara Phifer defeated accountant Monique Williams, and travel agent Haley Jacobson in the Democratic primary. ^[13] A fourth candidate, Gavin Bena, initially filed to run but later withdrew from the race. ^{[14] [15] [16]}

On November 5, 2024, Hoskins defeated Phifer by 18 percentage points. ^[17]

Republican primary results ^[18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Denny Hoskins	157,116	24.42
	Republican	Shane Schoeller	108,289	16.83
	Republican	Mike Carter	91,866	14.28
	Republican	Dean Plocher	86,659	13.47
	Republican	Mary Elizabeth Coleman	72,938	11.34
	Republican	Valentina Gomez	47,931	7.45
	Republican	Jamie Corley	46,314	7.20
	Republican	Adam Schwadron	32,335	5.03
Total votes			643,448	100.00

Democratic primary results ^[18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Barbara Phifer	146,284	40.86
	Democratic	Monique Williams	123,270	34.43
	Democratic	Haley Jacobsen	88,491	24.72
Total votes			358,045	100.00

2024 Missouri Secretary of State election ^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Denny Hoskins	1,677,902	57.66%	−2.93%
	Democratic	Barbara Phifer	1,154,090	39.66%	+3.38%
	Libertarian	Carl Freese	49,113	1.69%	−0.18%
	Green	Jerome Bauer	29,012	1.00%	+0.19%
Total votes			2,910,117	100.00%	N/A
	Republican hold

Montana

Main article: 2024 Montana Secretary of State election

Montana Secretary of State election

←  2020 2028 →

Nominee Christi Jacobsen Jesse Mullen Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 364,319 210,651 Percentage 61.4% 35.5%

County results Jacobsen:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%     90–100% Mullen:     40–50%     50–60%

Secretary of State before election Christi Jacobsen Republican Elected Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen Republican

Incumbent Republican Christi Jacobsen successfully ran for a second term, defeating Democratic newspaper publisher Jesse Mullen. ^{[20] [21] [22]}

Montana Secretary of State election, 2024 ^[23]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Christi Jacobsen (incumbent)	364,319	61.39%
	Democratic	Jesse Mullen	210,651	35.49%
	Libertarian	John Lamb	18,500	3.12%
Total votes			593,470	100.00%
	Republican hold

North Carolina

Main article: 2024 North Carolina Secretary of State election

North Carolina Secretary of State election

←  2020 2028 →

Nominee Elaine Marshall Chad Brown Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 2,837,994 2,722,794 Percentage 51.04% 48.96%

County results Marshall:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90% Brown:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%

Secretary of State before election Elaine Marshall Democratic Elected Secretary of State Elaine Marshall Democratic

Incumbent Democrat Elaine Marshall successfully ran for re-election to an eighth term, defeating Republican Chad Brown. ^{[24] [25]}

Republican primary results ^[26]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Chad Brown	373,166	43.26%
	Republican	Christine Villaverde	258,569	29.98%
	Republican	Jesse Thomas	230,829	26.76%
Total votes			862,564	100.0%

2024 North Carolina Secretary of State election ^[27]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Elaine Marshall (incumbent)	2,837,994	51.04%	–0.12%
	Republican	Chad Brown	2,722,794	48.96%	+0.12%
Total votes			5,560,788	100.0%
	Democratic hold

Oregon

Main article: 2024 Oregon Secretary of State election

Oregon Secretary of State election

←  2020 2028 →

Nominee Tobias Read Dennis Linthicum Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 1,166,447 897,704 Percentage 54.45% 41.90%

County results Read:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%     >90% Linthicum:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%     >90% Tie:     40–50%     50%     No votes

Secretary of State before election LaVonne Griffin-Valade Democratic Elected Secretary of State Tobias Read Democratic

Incumbent Democrat LaVonne Griffin-Valade was appointed by Governor Tina Kotek to replace Shemia Fagan, who resigned in May 2023 after revelations that she took a consulting job at a cannabis company while her office was auditing Oregon's marijuana industry, which many considered to be a conflict of interest. ^{[28] [29]} Griffin-Valade did not seek election to a full term.

Democratic nominee Tobias Read won the general election on November 5, 2024.

Democratic primary results ^[30]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Tobias Read	303,089	69.40%
	Democratic	James Manning Jr.	97,427	22.31%
	Democratic	Jim Crary	16,340	3.74%
	Democratic	Paul Damian Wells	9,425	2.16%
	Democratic	Dave Stauffer	7,921	1.81%
	Write-in		2,515	0.58%
Total votes			436,717	100.00%

Republican primary results ^[30]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Dennis Linthicum	199,243	65.99%
	Republican	Brent Barker	61,011	20.21%
	Republican	Tim McCloud	39,109	12.95%
	Write-in		2,560	0.85%
Total votes			301,923	100.00%

2024 Oregon Secretary of State election ^[31]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Tobias Read	1,166,447	54.45%	+4.14%
	Republican	Dennis Linthicum	897,704	41.90%	–1.31%
	Pacific Green	Nathalie Paravicini	76,170	3.56%	–0.05%
	Write-in		2,011	0.09%	–0.01%
Total votes			2,142,332	100.0%
	Democratic hold

Vermont

Main article: 2024 Vermont Secretary of State election

Vermont Secretary of State election

←  2022 2026  →

Nominee Sarah Copeland Hanzas H. Brooke Paige Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 205,378 138,673 Percentage 59.61% 40.25%

County results Municipality results Hanzas:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90% Paige:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%      No votes

Secretary of State before election Sarah Copeland Hanzas Democratic Elected Secretary of State Sarah Copeland Hanzas Democratic

Incumbent secretary of state Sarah Copeland Hanzas was re-elected to a second two-year term, defeating Republican newsstand owner H. Brooke Paige. ^[32]

Democratic primary results ^[33]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Sarah Copeland Hanzas (incumbent)	43,182	99.32%
	Write-in		294	0.68%
Total votes			43,476	100.00%

Republican primary results ^[33]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	H. Brooke Paige	18,989	98.10%
	Write-in		368	1.90%
Total votes			19,357	100.00%

2024 Vermont Secretary of State Election ^[34]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Sarah Copeland Hanzas (incumbent)	205,378	59.61%
	Republican	H. Brooke Paige	138,673	40.25%
	Write-in		473	0.14%
Total votes			344,524	100.00%

Washington

Main article: 2024 Washington Secretary of State election

Washington Secretary of State election

←  2022 (special) 2028 →

Nominee Steve Hobbs Dale Whitaker Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 2,234,420 1,535,977 Percentage 59.20% 40.70%

County results Hobbs:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90% Whitaker:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%

Secretary of State before election Steve Hobbs Democratic Elected Secretary of State Steve Hobbs Democratic

Incumbent Democratic Secretary of State Steve Hobbs was appointed to the position in 2021 after the resignation of Kim Wyman. He won a 2022 special election to serve out the remaining two years of Wyman's term and ran for re-election to a full term in 2024. Hobbs won the election decisively against Republican candidate Dale Whitaker. ^[35]

Blanket primary election results ^[36]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Steve Hobbs (incumbent)	930,533	48.38%
	Republican	Dale Whitaker	709,046	36.87%
	Democratic	Marquez Tiggs	185,628	9.65%
	No Labels	Damon Townsend	96,586	5.02%
	Write-in		1,534	0.08%
Total votes			1,923,327	100.0%

2024 Washington Secretary of State election ^[37]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Steve Hobbs (incumbent)	2,234,420	59.20%	+9.43%
	Republican	Dale Whitaker	1,535,977	40.70%	N/A
	Write-in		3,958	0.10%	–4.30%
Total votes			3,774,355	100.00%	N/A
	Democratic hold

West Virginia

Main article: 2024 West Virginia Secretary of State election

West Virginia Secretary of State election

←  2020 2028 →

Nominee Kris Warner Thornton Cooper Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 510,992 207,238 Percentage 71.15% 28.85%

County results Warner:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%

Secretary of State before election Mac Warner Republican Elected Secretary of State Kris Warner Republican

Incumbent Republican Mac Warner is eligible to run for re-election, but has instead decided to run for governor. ^[6]

Mac's brother and Former West Virginia Republican Party chair Kris Warner won the Republican nomination defeating state senator Kenny Mann, former state delegate Ken Reed, former Democratic House of Delegates minority leader Doug Skaff, and Putnam County clerk Brian Wood. ^[38] Attorney Thornton Cooper won the Democratic nomination unopposed. ^[39]

The Republican nominee, Kris Warner, was elected West Virginia's Secretary of State on November 5, 2024.

Republican primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Kris Warner	92,488	45.89%
	Republican	Doug Skaff	42,291	20.98%
	Republican	Ken Reed	33,891	16.81%
	Republican	Brian Wood	32,892	16.32%
Total votes			201,562	100.00%

Democratic primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Thornton Cooper	81,773	100.0%
Total votes			81,773	100.0%

2024 West Virginia Secretary of State election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Kris Warner	510,992	71.15%	+12.89%
	Democratic	Thornton Cooper	207,238	28.85%	−12.89%
Total votes			718,230	100.00%
	Republican hold

References

1. Martin, John J. (March 2, 2024). "Why state secretaries of state are important to elections - CBS News". www.cbsnews.com. Retrieved November 17, 2024.
2. Parentheses around an incumbent's name indicates that the incumbent is not running for re-election.
3. Jacobson, Louis (January 31, 2024). "This Year's Key Attorney General and Secretary of State Races". University of Virginia Center for Politics .
4. Shorman, Jonathan (April 6, 2023). "Missouri's top election official Jay Ashcroft launches Republican campaign for governor". The Kansas City Star.
5. Lugo, Dianne (June 30, 2023). "LaVonne Griffin-Valade sworn in as 29th Oregon secretary of state". Statesman Journal. Retrieved February 19, 2025.
6. Staff Reports (January 10, 2023). "Mac Warner announces campaign for West Virginia governor in 2024". WV News. Retrieved January 29, 2024.
7. Dereuck, Kelly (October 29, 2023). "Greene County's Schoeller among crowded field of GOP candidates for MO Secretary of State". Springfield News-Leader . Retrieved January 27, 2024.
8. Erickson, Kurt (June 6, 2023). "With focus on voter fraud, senator from Warrensburg launches run for top state election post". St. Louis Post-Dispatch . Retrieved February 3, 2024.
9. "Caleb Rowden announces his intent to run for Missouri secretary of state". Columbia Missourian . October 22, 2023. Retrieved October 23, 2023.
10. Skalicky, Michele (February 11, 2023). "Greene County Clerk Shane Schoeller announces run for Missouri secretary of state". KSMU . Retrieved February 2, 2024.
11. Gladney, Nick (October 23, 2023). "St. Charles representative announces bid for Missouri Secretary of State". KOMU-TV . Retrieved February 2, 2024.
12. Bayless, Kacen (August 7, 2024). "Denny Hoskins wins GOP primary for Missouri secretary of state in crowded field". Kansas City Star. Retrieved February 18, 2025.
13. "Secretary of State Unofficial Candidate Filing List". Missouri Secretary of State.
14. "Questions remain about key Missouri races as August primary filing opens". Spectrum Local News.
15. "2024 Withdrawn Candidates". Missouri Secretary of State.
16. Bayless, Kacen (August 7, 2024). "Denny Hoskins wins GOP primary for Missouri secretary of state in crowded field". Kansas City Star. Retrieved February 18, 2025.
17. "General Election, November 05, 2024". State of Missouri. Retrieved February 18, 2025.
18. Missouri Secretary of State (August 6, 2024). "State of Missouri - State of Missouri - Primary Election, August 06, 2024". enr.sos.mo.gov/. Retrieved August 7, 2024.
19. General Election, November 05, 2024, Official Results, Missouri Secretary of State, December 23, 2024.
20. Sakariassen, Alex (November 13, 2023). "Jacobsen announces re-election bid for top election office". Montana Free Press . Retrieved February 10, 2024.
21. Hill, Deb (January 31, 2024). "Deer Lodge newspaper owner running for Secretary of State". Lewiston News-Argus. Retrieved February 2, 2024.
22. "Montana Secretary of State Election Results 2024". The New York Times. November 5, 2024. Retrieved February 19, 2025.
23. "2024 Statewide General Election Canvass". Secretary of State of Montana . December 11, 2024. Retrieved December 11, 2024.
24. Square, Alan Wooten | The Center (December 4, 2023). "Marshall, vying for eighth term alongside sixth governor, among early filers". The Center Square. Retrieved January 28, 2024.
25. "North Carolina Secretary of State Election Results". The New York Times. December 13, 2024. Retrieved February 19, 2025.
26. "03/05/2024 OFFICIAL PRIMARY ELECTION RESULTS - STATEWIDE". North Carolina State Board of Elections . Retrieved March 7, 2024.
27. "11/05/2024 OFFICIAL GENERAL ELECTION RESULTS - STATEWIDE". North Carolina State Board of Elections .
28. Borrud, Hillary (May 2, 2023). "Oregon Secretary of State Shemia Fagan resigns". The Oregonian/OregonLive . Archived from the original on May 2, 2023. Retrieved May 2, 2023.
29. Shumway, Julia (June 30, 2023). "LaVonne Griffin-Valade takes over as Oregon secretary of state with pledge to rebuild trust". Oregon Capital Chronicle . Retrieved August 9, 2023.
30. "May 21, 2024, Primary Election Abstract of Votes" (PDF). Oregon Secretary of State. May 21, 2024. Retrieved July 11, 2024.
31. "November 5, 2024, General Election Abstract of Votes" (PDF). Oregon SOS. December 12, 2024. Retrieved December 12, 2024.
32. "Vermont Secretary of State Election 2024 Live Results". NBC News. November 5, 2024. Retrieved November 7, 2024.
33. Secretary of State of Vermont (August 13, 2024). "Vermont Election Night Results". electionresults.vermont.gov. Retrieved August 17, 2024.
34. "2024 General Election Canvass Report" (PDF). VT SOS. Retrieved December 10, 2024.
35. Fortin, Daniel (November 5, 2024). "Steve Hobbs wins Washington U.S. Secretary of State race with 59.6% of the vote, NBC reports". NonStop Local Tri-Cities/Yakima. Retrieved November 8, 2024.
36. "Certification of Results" (PDF). Washington Secretary of State.
37. "Official Canvass of the Returns" (PDF). Secretary of State of Washington . Retrieved December 4, 2024.
38. Hannahs, Alyssa (May 15, 2024). "Kris Warner wins GOP Secretary of State Primary". www.wsaz.com. Retrieved May 23, 2024.
39. "WV SOS - Elections - Candidate - Online Data Services". apps.sos.wv.gov. Retrieved February 2, 2024.