# 2024 United States secretary of state elections

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.
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 is retiring. 3 Republican secretaries of state were up for election, of whom Jay Ashcroft of Missouri and Mac Warner of West Virginia are retiring.

## Partisan composition

Going into these elections, this class of secretaries of state is 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.

## Race summary

| State | Secretary of State | Party | First elected | Status | Candidates |
| Missouri | Jay Ashcroft | Republican | 2016 | Incumbent retired to run for governor. Republican hold. | ▌Y Denny Hoskins (Republican) ▌Barbara Phifer (Democratic) ▌Carl Freese (Libertarian) ▌Jerome Bauer (Green) |
| Montana | Christi Jacobsen | Republican | 2020 | Incumbent re-elected. | ▌Y Christi Jacobsen (Republican) ▌Jesse Mullen (Democratic) ▌John Lamb (Libertarian) |
| North Carolina | Elaine Marshall | Democratic | 1996 | Incumbent re-elected. | ▌Y Elaine Marshall (Democratic) ▌Chad Brown (Republican) |
| Oregon | LaVonne Griffin-Valade | Democratic | 2023 (appointed) | Interim appointee retired. Democratic hold. | ▌Y Tobias Read (Democratic) ▌Dennis Linthicum (Republican) ▌Nathalie Paravicini (Pacific Green) |
| Vermont | Sarah Copeland Hanzas | Democratic | 2022 | Incumbent re-elected. | ▌Y Sarah Copeland Hanzas (Democratic) ▌H. Brooke Paige (Republican) |
| Washington | Steve Hobbs | Democratic | 2022 | Incumbent re-elected. | ▌Y Steve Hobbs (Democratic) ▌Dale Whitaker (Republican) |
| West Virginia | Mac Warner | Republican | 2016 | Incumbent retired to run for governor. Republican hold. | ▌Y Kris Warner (Republican) ▌Thornton Cooper (Democratic) |

## Missouri

Incumbent Republican Jay Ashcroft was eligible to serve a third term, but has instead decided to run for governor.
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.
State representative Barbara Phifer defeated accountant Monique Williams, and travel agent Haley Jacobson in the Democratic primary. A fourth candidate, Gavin Bena, initially filed to run but later withdrew from the race.
On November 5, 2024, Hoskins defeated Phifer by 18 percentage points.

## Montana

Incumbent Republican Christi Jacobsen successfully ran for a second term, defeating Democratic newspaper publisher Jesse Mullen.

## North Carolina

Incumbent Democrat Elaine Marshall successfully ran for re-election to an eighth term, defeating Republican Chad Brown.

## Oregon

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. Griffin-Valade did not seek election to a full term.
Democratic nominee Tobias Read won the general election on November 5, 2024.

## Vermont

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

## Washington

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.

## West Virginia

Incumbent Republican Mac Warner is eligible to run for re-election, but has instead decided to run for governor.
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. Attorney Thornton Cooper won the Democratic nomination unopposed.
The Republican nominee, Kris Warner, was elected West Virginia's Secretary of State on November 5, 2024.