# 2023 United States secretary of state elections

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.

## 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 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 | Result |
| 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

| State | Attorney General | Party | First elected | Result | Candidates |
| Kentucky | Michael Adams | Republican | 2019 | Incumbent re-elected | ▌Y Michael Adams (Republican) 60.6% ▌Buddy Wheatley (Democratic) 39.3% |
| Louisiana | Kyle Ardoin | Republican | 2018 (special) | Incumbent retiring. New secretary of state elected Republican hold. | ▌Y Nancy Landry (Republican) 66.8% ▌Gwen Collins-Greenup (Democratic) 33.2% |
| Mississippi | Michael Watson | Republican | 2019 | Incumbent re-elected | ▌Y Michael Watson (Republican) 59.5% ▌Ty Pinkins (Democratic) 40.5% |

## Kentucky

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.
Republican primary results :
| Party | 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 | Total votes | Total votes | 268,053 | 100 |
2023 Kentucky Secretary of State election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Republican | Michael Adams (incumbent) | 783,695 | 60.59% | +8.33% |
| | Democratic | Buddy Wheatley | 509,308 | 39.38% | −8.36% |
| | Write-in | Write-in | 460 | 0.04% | |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 1,293,463 | 100.00% | |

## Louisiana

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 chosen to retire instead.
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.
2023 Louisiana Secretary of State election jungle primary :
| Party | 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 | Total votes | Total votes | 1,021,169 | 100.0% |
2023 Louisiana Secretary of State runoff election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Republican | Nancy Landry | 446,038 | 66.80% | +7.73 |
| | Democratic | Gwen Collins-Greenup | 221,698 | 33.20% | −7.73 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 667,736 | 100.0% | |

## Mississippi

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.
Republican primary results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Michael Watson (incumbent) | 351,774 | 100.00% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 351,774 | 100.00% |
Democratic primary results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Shuwaski Young | 152,115 | 100.00% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 152,115 | 100.00% |
2023 Mississippi Secretary of State election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Republican | Michael Watson (incumbent) | 481,895 | 59.50% | +0.67% |
| | Democratic | Ty Pinkins | 328,067 | 40.50% | –0.67% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 809,962 | 100.0% | |