# Ohio Secretary of State

The secretary of state of Ohio is an elected statewide official in the state of Ohio. The secretary of state is responsible for overseeing elections in the state; registering business entities (corporations, etc.) and granting them the authority to do business within the state; registering secured transactions; and granting access to public documents.
From 1803 to 1851, the Ohio secretary of state was elected by the Ohio General Assembly to a three-year term. The 1851 Ohio Constitution made the office elective, with a two-year term. In 1954, the office's term was extended to four years. The secretary of state is elected in even-numbered, off cycle years, (no Presidential elections), after partisan primary elections.

## List of Ohio secretaries of state

| # | Secretary of State | Term of office | Party |
| 1 | William Creighton Jr. | 1803–1808 | Democratic Republican |
| 2 | Jeremiah McLene | 1808–1831 | Democratic |
| 3 | Moses H. Kirby | 1831–1835 | Whig |
| 4 | Benjamin B. Hinkson | 1835–1836 | Democratic |
| 5 | Carter B. Harlan | 1836–1840 | Democratic |
| 6 | William Trevitt | 1840–1841 | Democratic |
| 7 | John Sloane | 1841–1844 | Whig |
| 8 | Samuel Galloway | 1844–1850 | Whig |
| 9 | Henry W. King | 1850–1852 | Free Soil |
| 10 | William Trevitt | 1852–1856 | Democratic |
| 11 | James H. Baker | 1856–1858 | Republican |
| 12 | Addison P. Russell | 1858–1862 | Republican |
| 13 | Benjamin R. Cowen | 1862 | Republican |
| 14 | Wilson S. Kennon | 1862–1863 | Republican |
| 15 | William W. Armstrong | 1863–1865 | Democratic |
| 16 | William Henry Smith | 1865–1868 | Republican |
| 17 | John Russell | 1868–1869 | Republican |
| 18 | Isaac R. Sherwood | 1869–1873 | Republican |
| 19 | Allen T. Wikoff | 1873–1875 | Republican |
| 20 | William Bell, Jr. | 1875–1877 | Democratic |
| 21 | Milton Barnes | 1877–1881 | Republican |
| 22 | Charles Townsend | 1881–1883 | Republican |
| 23 | James W. Newman | 1883-1885 | Democratic |
| 24 | James Sidney Robinson | 1885–1889 | Republican |
| 25 | Daniel J. Ryan | 1889–1891 | Republican |
| 26 | Christian L. Poorman | 1891–1893 | Republican |
| 27 | Samuel McIntire Taylor | 1893–1897 | Republican |
| 28 | Charles Kinney | 1897–1901 | Republican |
| 29 | Lewis C. Laylin | 1901–1907 | Republican |
| 30 | Carmi Thompson | 1907–1911 | Republican |
| 31 | Charles H. Graves | 1911–1915 | Democratic |
| 32 | Charles Quinn Hildebrant | 1915–1917 | Republican |
| 33 | William D. Fulton | 1917–1919 | Democratic |
| 34 | Harvey C. Smith | 1919–1923 | Republican |
| 35 | Thad H. Brown | 1923–1927 | Republican |
| 36 | Clarence J. Brown | 1927–1933 | Republican |
| 37 | George S. Myers | 1933–1936 | Democratic |
| 38 | William J. Kennedy | 1936–1939 | Democratic |
| 39 | Earl Griffith | 1939–1940 | Republican |
| 40 | George M. Neffiner | 1940–1941 | Republican |
| 41 | John E. Sweeney | 1941–1943 | Democratic |
| 42 | Edward J. Hummel | 1943–1949 | Republican |
| 43 | Donald K. Zoller | 1949–1951 | Republican |
| 44 | Ted W. Brown | 1951–1979 | Republican |
| 45 | Anthony J. Celebrezze Jr. | 1979–1983 | Democratic |
| 46 | Sherrod Brown | 1983–1991 | Democratic |
| 47 | Bob Taft | 1991–1999 | Republican |
| 48 | Ken Blackwell | 1999–2007 | Republican |
| 49 | Jennifer Brunner | 2007–2011 | Democratic |
| 50 | Jon Husted | 2011–2019 | Republican |
| 51 | Frank LaRose | 2019–present | Republican |
* ↑ Resigned February 12, 1836.
* 1 2 Died in office.
* 1 2 Resigned.
* ↑ Resigned April 1891.
* ↑ Resigned December 31, 1936.