How many of the swing states have Democratic Sec'ys of State vs GOP SOS?

[Hamlette]

Florida and Ohio were easier to steal because each state had a GOP secretary of state. That was part of Dean's 50 state strategy: we need down ticket offices especially Sec'y of State as that is the person who runs the election.

If you don't believe it is important, look at today's SCOTUS decision on voting in Ohio. No way Blackwell (2004 SOS in Ohio) would have challenged the law and instead, he would just have rejected the registrations of tens if not thousands of voters.

Today Ohio has a dem SOS so she fought it all the way and today the SCOTUS invalidated the GOP attempt to shut out voters.

I am much more confident that Ohio will be more fair than it was in 2004.

I'm guessing Florida has a GOP Sec'y of State but I don't know.

What about:

VA
CO
NM
NV
NC
MO
IN
WV

Anyone know?

Oh, and while I'm on my soap box, allow me to point out just how important the position of SOS is. If Ohio goes blue, you can thank, in part, the Dem SOS. Yes, it only works in close states. But in those states it can make all the difference, as we've seen today.

As another footnote, I can't tell you how giddy I am that I got to include WV and IN and VA and NC and CO in a list of swing states instead of PA, IA, NM, and OR, states we were worried about last time.

[rvablue]

1. I think VA is a Dem. but I'd have to double check........... n/t

[AllentownJake]

2. CO and Indiana

Definetely have GOP SOS.

[DinahMoeHum]

3. There's a great site called Secretary of State Project which specializes

in races for the SOS positions in states:

www.secstateproject.org

In 2006, they won 5 out of 7 races they targeted, getting Ohio, Minnesota, Iowa, Nevada and New Mexico.

They're the ones who helped raise funds for Jennifer Brunner in Ohio, to kick out Ken Blackwell.
Today's news was due in large part to Brunner's work, which would not have happened without this org.

This year, they are supporting races in Oregon, Montana, Missouri and West Virginia.

:kick::kick::kick:

[featherman]

4. Interesting - North Carolina SoS is a Democrat

http://www.vote-smart.org/bio.php?can_id=2167

[yardwork]

13. Yes, most of North Carolina's state officials are Democrats - always have been.

[featherman]

5. West Virginia's SoS is Betty Ireland, a Republican

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betty_Ireland

[ddeclue]

6. FL is republican - Ohio is dem.

Interestingly you can download Ohio and North Carolina's voter files for free.

[featherman]

7. It looks like only CO, IN, and WV have Republican SoS

While VA, NV, MO, NM, and NC all have Dems

Corrected to note that Ross Miller, SoS of Nevada is a Dem!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ross_Miller

[featherman]

10. Whoa... my mistake... Robin Carnahan of MO is a Democrat also

Daughter of Mel Carnahan

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_Carnahan

[CitizenLeft]

8. looks like I've been confused...

I apologize for my ignorance here, but while I've been aware of how crucial it is to have Dem govs, I've been under the mistaken impression that the party of a state's SoS depended on the Governor - in other words, a Dem gov has a Dem SoS, but that's not always the case. Since I've automatically voted straight Dem ticket my whole life, until 2000 I never paid attention to SoS, or how important it is. CO has a Dem gov, but a Republican SoS, right? It's just odd for states to have split tickets like that, so I was either mistaken about how SoSs are elected, or some states have different laws concerning the election of Secs of State.

[featherman]

9. No the SoS is generally an elective office in my experience and can be of either party

For example here in CA we have a GOP Governor but a Democratic SoS.

[CitizenLeft]

11. yeah, I was embarrassed to admit that, LOL

The 2000 election taught me a lot, but 2004 was on a whole new level. The gyrations Blackwell went through made us all dizzy and sick. I'm learning every day how important it is know as much about the electoral process, on every level, as possible. Hell, by the end of this election, we'll all be able to write a damn thesis.

[yardwork]

12. I agree completely. Ohio's 2004 vote was stolen because of the Republican SoS.

However, not all Republican secretaries of state are proven to be villains. Just because Ohio's was in 2004 and Florida's was in 2000 does not mean that every other states's Republican secretary of state will steal the election.

They just bear much closer watching.