Especially in a presidential year, secretary of state elections don’t get much attention. But the position carries a lot of weight behind the scenes. In most states, the secretary of state runs elections, a task that in this day and age can mean everything from implementing controversial voting rules to running high-stakes recounts to defending against foreign cyber-intrusions. For 2020, seven secretary of state elections are on tap. For now, at least, four of them appear to be competitive. Prior to the 2019 elections, Republicans held 25 secretary of state positions and Democrats held 22. (Alaska, Hawaii and Utah do not have a secretary of state office.) The results of the 2019 elections will push the GOP’s lead a little higher, as Republican Michael Adams seized a Democratic-held open seat in Kentucky. In the other two 2019 races, the GOP retained a Republican-held seat in Mississippi and saw GOP incumbent Kyle Ardoin win reelection in Louisiana. All told, next year the GOP is poised to hold 26 seats, to 21 for the Democrats. The GOP edge is even wider once

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