2023 United States secretary of state elections
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The 2023 United States secretary of state elections were held on November 7, 2023, in the states of Kentucky and Mississippi, with an election held in Louisiana on November 18, to elect the secretaries of state of three U.S. states. The previous elections for this group of states took place in 2019.
These elections took place concurrently with several other state and local elections.
Republicans won every seat in this election.[1]
Election predictions[edit]
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 a party's predicted advantage 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 | Last race |
Sabato June 21, 2023[2] |
Result[1] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kentucky | R+16 | Michael Adams | 52.3% R | Likely R | Adams 60.6% R |
| Louisiana | R+12 | Kyle Ardoin (retiring) |
66.2% R | Safe R | Landry 66.8% R |
| Mississippi | R+11 | Michael Watson | 57.8% R | Safe R | Watson 59.5% R |
Race summary[edit]
| State | Attorney General |
Party | First elected |
Result | Candidates |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kentucky | Michael Adams | Republican | 2019 | Incumbent re-elected |
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| Louisiana | Kyle Ardoin | Republican | 2018 (special) | Incumbent retiring. New secretary of state elected Republican hold. |
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| Mississippi | Michael Watson | Republican | 2019 | Incumbent re-elected |
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Kentucky[edit]
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 Adams: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% Wheatley: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% | |||||||||||||||||
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Incumbent secretary of state Michael Adams ran and won re-election to a second term after he defeated Democratic nominee Buddy Wheatley with 60.6% of the vote.[3]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Michael Adams | 171,288 | 63.9 | |
| Republican | Stephen Knipper | 70,993 | 26.5 | |
| Republican | Allen Maricle | 25,772 | 9.6 | |
| Total votes | 268,053 | 100 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican |
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783,695 | 60.59% | +8.33% | |
| Democratic | 509,308 | 39.38% | -8.36% | ||
| Write-in | 460 | 0.04% | |||
| Total votes | 1,293,463 | 100.00% | |||
Louisiana[edit]
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  Landry: 20–30% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% >90% Collins-Greenup: 20–30% 30–40% 50–60% 80–90% Francis: 20–30% 30–40% 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% Schexnayder: 20–30% 30–40% Morrell: 40–50% Kennedy: 40–50% | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Incumbent secretary of state Kyle Ardoin was re-elected to a second term in 2019 with 59.1% of the vote. Arodin is eligible to seek a third term, however he has chose to retire instead.[5]
Louisiana utilizes a jungle primary system. The race went to a runoff between former state representative Nancy Landry and attorney Gwen Collins-Greenup. Landry won with 66.8% of the vote.[6]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Nancy Landry | 197,514 | 19.34% | |
| Democratic | Gwen Collins-Greenup | 196,534 | 19.25% | |
| Republican | Mike Francis | 182,842 | 17.91% | |
| Republican | Clay Schexnayder | 149,987 | 14.69% | |
| Democratic | Arthur Morrell | 113,703 | 11.13% | |
| Republican | Thomas Kennedy III | 102,628 | 10.05% | |
| Republican | Brandon Trosclair | 64,686 | 6.33% | |
| Independent | Amanda Jennings | 13,275 | 1.30% | |
| Total votes | 1,021,169 | 100.0% | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Nancy Landry | 446,038 | 66.80% | +7.73 | |
| Democratic | Gwen Collins-Greenup | 221,698 | 33.20% | -7.73 | |
| Total votes | 667,736 | 100.0% | |||
Mississippi[edit]
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 County results Watson: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% Pinkins: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% | |||||||||||||||||
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Incumbent secretary of state Michael Watson ran and won re-election to a second term after he defeated Democratic nominee Ty Pinkins with 59.5% of the vote.[9]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Michael Watson (incumbent) | 351,774 | 100.00% | |
| Total votes | 351,774 | 100.00% | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Shuwaski Young | 152,115 | 100.00% | |
| Total votes | 152,115 | 100.00% | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Michael Watson (incumbent) | 481,895 | 59.50% | +0.67% | |
| Democratic | Ty Pinkins | 328,067 | 40.50% | –0.67% | |
| Total votes | 809,962 | 100.0% | |||
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ a b Tanneeru, Manav. "2023 Elections | CNN Politics". CNN. Retrieved 2024-01-11.
- ^ "The 2023 and 2024 Attorney General and Secretary of State Races". Sabato's Crystal Ball. 21 June 2023. Retrieved July 2, 2023.
- ^ "Kentucky secretary of state election: Michael Adams wins second term". The Courier-Journal. Retrieved 2024-03-02.
- ^ "May 16, 2023 Official 2023 Primary Election Results" (PDF). Kentucky Secretary of State. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 30, 2023. Retrieved October 6, 2023.
- ^ LaRose, Greg (2023-04-11). "Kyle Ardoin won't seek re-election for Secretary of State • Louisiana Illuminator". Louisiana Illuminator. Retrieved 2024-03-02.
- ^ Muller, Wesley (2023-11-19). "Nancy Landry runs away with Louisiana secretary of state race • Louisiana Illuminator". Louisiana Illuminator. Retrieved 2024-03-02.
- ^ "Official Results for Election Date: 10/14/2023 Secretary of State".
- ^ "Louisiana General Election Results". The New York Times. Retrieved November 19, 2023.
- ^ "Secretary of State Michael Watson re-elected". WJTV. 2023-11-08. Retrieved 2024-03-02.
- ^ "2023 Republican primary results". Mississippi Secretary of State. Retrieved September 16, 2023.
- ^ "2023 Democratic primary results". Mississippi Secretary of State. Retrieved September 16, 2023.
- ^ "2023 General Election Results". Mississippi Secretary of State. Retrieved December 6, 2023.