Ky. Secretary of State Michael Adams to seek re-election

Secretary of State Michael Adams will seek another four years in his statewide office come 2023.

Adams, a Republican, announced the move on Friday:

“No other candidate for Secretary of State could offer this record of accomplishment: expanded voting rights, enhanced election security, restoration of confidence in the Office after years of scandal,” he said in his announcement. “No other candidate for Secretary of State could be as well-prepared for the challenges we will face that we cannot even predict, as I had to in my first months in office.”

In Kentucky, the secretary of state oversees elections, certain business filings, and more.

Nationally, Adams’ voting policy and cooperation with Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear has often been lauded as a bipartisan success story. A bill supported by Adams last year made it easier for some Kentuckians to vote.

Adams recently backed a bill that made him the chair of the state board of elections. His office has also helped with Republican-led defenses against redistricting maps that Democrats say are gerrymandered to unfairly advantage the majority party in the legislature, and he’s frequently sparred with both election conspiracy theorists and those who advocate for hand-counting all ballots in Kentucky.

In 2019, Adams defeated Democrat nominee Heather French Henry, former Miss America and Kentucky Second Lady, by almost five percentage points.

He replaced two-term officeholder Alison Lundergan Grimes, a Democrat who’s been accused by the Executive Branch Ethics Commission of improperly using her position to benefit Democratic candidates prior to the 2016 election, among other alleged ethics violations; Grimes has denied those allegations.

No other candidates for secretary of state have filed paperwork with the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance to begin fundraising.

Prior to announcing his bid for reelection, Adams’ name was floated as a potential candidate for attorney general or even governor.

As of Friday, only GOP candidate Russell Coleman, who got off to a strong start by fundraising more than $340,000 in his first quarter, has announced for attorney general. Coleman was previously the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Kentucky, an FBI agent and legal counsel to Kentuckian Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

The Republican field for governor is already deep but could grow. A majority of GOP statewide officeholders – Commissioner of Agriculture Ryan Quarles, Attorney General Daniel Cameron and Auditor Mike Harmon – are all running. Rep. Savannah Maddox, R-Dry Ridge, and former attorney Eric Deters have both launched bids as well. Potential additional Republican candidates include former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Kelly Craft and Somerset Mayor Alan Keck among others.