Democratic Secretaries

As a former Marine, father of three daughters, an attorney, and an elections administrator — Adrian has spent his whole career fighting for justice and democracy, and is continuing that mission as Arizona’s 21st Secretary of State. Adrian is a proud Arizona native who has spent a lifetime fighting for justice and defending our democracy. He served on active duty in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1992 to 1996, and was nominated for a meritorious commission. 

After graduating from law school, Adrian spent his career advocating for justice and fighting for those who are disadvantaged — first as a prosecutor with the Denver District Attorney and then at the Maricopa County Attorney’s office. He later led the International Prosecution Unit at the Arizona Attorney General’s Office. He practiced law for 15 years before running for office in 2016 when he was elected Maricopa County Recorder. As Recorder, Adrian revolutionized the election system by ensuring that every eligible Arizonan had the access they needed to vote. Adrian enhanced ballot tracking technology and increased process transparency, winning recognition and awards from election organizations across the country.

In 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 crisis and amidst violent protests, Maricopa County saw record voter turnout, as well as record numbers of new voters registered for both parties. Adrian later testified before Congress to inform them of threats facing election officials — including those that he faced from protestors outside their office in 2020.  

As Secretary of State, Adrian is committed to preserving integrity in our elections, increasing transparency in the Secretary of State’s office, making voting easier for registered voters, and ensuring that Arizona’s business community has a partner in the Secretary’s office.

Shirley Nash Weber, Ph.D. was nominated to serve as California Secretary of State by Governor Gavin Newsom on December 22, 2020 and sworn into office on January 29, 2021. She is California’s first Black Secretary of State and only the fifth African American to serve as a state constitutional officer in California’s 170-year history.  

Weber was born to sharecroppers in Hope, Arkansas during the segregationist Jim Crow era. Her father, who left Arkansas after being threatened by a lynch mob, did not have the opportunity to vote until he was in his 30s. Her grandfather never voted as custom and law in the South, before the Voting Rights Act of 1965, systemically suppressed voting by Blacks. Although her family moved to California when Weber was three years old, it was her family’s experience in the Jim Crow South that has driven her activism and legislative work. She has fought to secure and expand civil rights for all Californians, including restoring voting rights for individuals who have completed their prison term. 

Weber attended the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where she received her BA, MA and PhD by the age of 26. Prior to receiving her doctorate, she became a professor at San Diego State University (SDSU) at the age of 23. She also taught at California State University at Los Angeles (CSULA) and Los Angeles City College before coming to SDSU. She retired from the Department of Africana Studies after 40 years as a faculty member and serving several terms as department chair. 

Before her appointment, Secretary Weber served four terms as an Assembly Member representing California’s 79th Assembly District, which includes parts of the City of San Diego as well as several cities and communities in the San Diego region.  Weber also served as a member and chair of the San Diego Unified School District and has twice served as a California Elector, including chairing the California College of Presidential Electors on December 14, 2020. 

During her tenure in the Assembly, Weber chaired the Assembly Elections and Redistricting Committee, Assembly Budget Subcommittee on Public Safety, and Assembly Budget Subcommittee on Health. Weber was the first African American to serve as the chair of the Assembly Budget Committee. She also served as a member of the Standing Committees on Education, Higher Education, Elections, Budget, Banking and Finance. 

In addition, Weber chaired the Select Committee on Campus Climate, which was created to examine and mitigate hate crimes on California’s college and university campuses. The committee also explored student hunger, sexual assaults, homelessness, and freedom of expression. She formerly created and chaired the Select Committee on Higher Education in San Diego County, which explored the need for an additional higher education facility in San Diego and ways to improve the quality, affordability and equal access of higher education in the region.   

From 2019 – 2020, she served as chair of the California Legislative Black Caucus (CLBC), which consists of the state’s African American legislators and has the goal of promoting equal opportunity for California’s African American community. Weber broke records during her tenure by garnering extraordinary support for CLBC’s efforts and its projects. 

Weber’s genuine passion and tireless quest for equality and fairness in all sectors of life have resulted in her pursuit of reforms in education and criminal justice. Her equity-oriented legislation includes: school finance and accountability, classroom safety, ethnic studies, early learners, attendance and dropout rates, quality instruction, law enforcements’ use-of-force and body camera practices, reparations, the CalGangs’ database, Affirmative Action, inclusive jury selection and instruction, predatory lending, resources for exonerees, restorative justice, racial profiling, among others. Weber has also pursued public policy changes related to health, senior citizens, veterans and military families.

Secretary Weber is a mother of two adult children, three grandchildren and was married for 29 years to the late Honorable Daniel Weber.  She is number six in a family of eight children. Her Parents, David and Mildred Nash, are deceased. Her hobbies are reading and traveling.  

Jena Marie Griswold is Colorado’s 39th Secretary of State, and began her term on January 8, 2019. She is the youngest elected Secretary of State in the United States. Griswold grew up in a working-class family in rural Colorado and was the first person in her family to attend a four-year college and then law school. She knows first-hand how important it is for every vote to count and for every Coloradan’s voice to be heard, no matter their background or income. She will protect our right to vote, fight secret political spending, improve transparency, and stand up to those who try to bend the rules or break the law.

Griswold has practiced international anti-corruption law and worked as a voter protection attorney, where she made sure Coloradans were able to participate in our democracy. She served as the Director of the Governor of Colorado’s DC Office, advocating on behalf of Colorado in D.C. During that time, Griswold was instrumental in bringing back hundreds of millions of relief dollars to help the Colorado communities hit by the 2013 flood. Before her election to Colorado Secretary of State, Griswold ran her own small business, a legal practice in Louisville.

Griswold holds a B.A. in Politics and Spanish Literature from Whitman College and a J.D from University of Pennsylvania Law School. Griswold is fluent in Spanish and a graduate of Estes Park High School in Estes Park, Colorado. In 2006, Griswold was awarded the Watson Fellowship, and in 2009, the Penn Law International Human Rights Fellowship. Griswold lives in Louisville, Colorado.

Stephanie Thomas has spent her entire career in public service. Prior to her election as Secretary of the State, she served as State Representative of Connecticut’s 143rd District – Norwalk, Wilton, and Westport.  As Vice-Chair of the Government Administration and Elections Committee, Stephanie sponsored and helped pass a variety of voter-focused bills, such as automatic voter registration and resolutions to advance early voting and universal access to absentee ballots. Stephanie is committed to protecting voting rights and strengthening civic education in Connecticut.

Stephanie joined the public sector after a distinguished thirty-year career advising and problem-solving for nonprofit organizations. She has worked as a strategy and fundraising consultant since 1996 and opened her own fundraising consulting firm in 2013, raising more than $20 million annually for organizations working to help those left behind. Stephanie holds a B.A. from New York University and a M.S. in Nonprofit Management from New School University.

Throughout her career, Stephanie has served on many boards, strategic planning committees, and as an active volunteer in her community. She and her husband reside in Norwalk, Connecticut.

Jeffrey W. Bullock was appointed Delaware’s 80th Secretary of State in 2009 by Gov. Jack Markell and re-appointed by Gov. John Carney in 2017. Secretary Bullock has held the office longer than any other Delaware Secretary of State in more than 220 years.

During his tenure, Secretary Bullock has worked to make state government more responsive to the citizens it serves, to support job creation and economic development across industries, and to grow the revenue streams that underpin the state’s core budget priorities.

As head of the most diverse cabinet department in state government, Secretary Bullock oversees nearly two dozen different agencies and divisions, whose missions range from preserving Delaware’s historical sites and collections, to supporting small businesses and entrepreneurs, to serving consumers, public employees and veterans. Most notable among these agencies is the Division of Corporations, an integral part of the Delaware franchise and the state’s preeminence as America’s “Corporate Capital.”

Secretary Bullock was born and raised in Claymont, Delaware and graduated from the University of Delaware. He previously served as Chief of Staff to Gov. Tom Carper and as Chief Administrative Officer of New Castle County, Delaware’s largest county.

He and his wife Susan live in Wilmington and have two daughters.

Kimberly A. Bassett was appointed to serve as the Secretary of the District of Columbia by Mayor Muriel Bowser on December 11, 2018. In her role as the Secretary, she is the custodian of the Seal of the District of Columbia and manages the City’s ceremonial services; government document publishing and issuances; notary commissions and authentications; international and diplomatic activities; and public records and archive maintenance.

Ms. Bassett was the former Director of the Mayor’s Office on Women’s Policy and Initiatives (MOWPI) during Mayor Muriel Bowser’s first term. In this role, she served as the Bowser Administration’s chief advocate representing the needs and interests of women in Washington, DC. As Director, Ms. Bassett collaborated with local and national nonprofit organizations and public agencies to engage and increase District residents’ program participation. Ms. Bassett also advised Mayor Bowser on political positions and initiatives while also serving as her traveling Chief of Staff. Under Ms. Bassett’s leadership, MOWPI coordinated workshops programs and large-scale events to address issues including equal pay, healthcare access, public safety, and domestic violence. She oversaw the launch of the Work Smart Salary Negotiation Program in partnership with the American Association of University Women (AAUW) which was created to combat the gender pay gap by offering free salary negotiation classes to DC women. The program was featured in the Washington Post for successfully training thousands of DC women in all eight wards of the city since Spring 2016. She also launched Mayor Bowser’s first women’s leadership conference on civic engagement.

Prior to joining the District Government, Ms. Bassett was the former Executive Director of The Wireless Foundation, the philanthropic affiliate of CTIA-The Wireless Association. In this role, she was responsible for the Foundation’s charitable programs that enhance America’s communities through wireless technology. In this position, she helped to launch an unprecedented public-private partnership, text4baby, a free mobile award-winning health service for expectant mothers. In addition, she launched the first wireless safety cellphone game, BeSeen. She also worked with two of the nation’s most underachieving school districts (New Orleans and Washington, DC) to launch an app empowering parents to research their children’s schooling options

Ms. Bassett joined The Wireless Foundation after having served as Director of External Affairs for Verizon Washington, DC, where she was responsible for community engagement, government relations, employee advocacy and management of the Verizon Foundation. Prior to Verizon, she was the Director of Programs for DC Vote, an educational and advocacy organization dedicated to securing full voting representation in Congress for the residents of the District of Columbia. She worked as the Director of Programs and Partnerships for The Stephen Case Foundation (AOL), an initiative to bridge the digital divide in underserved communities. She also served as a presidential appointee in the Clinton Administration under U.S. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley.

In her spare time, Kimberly serves on the boards of the Step Afrika! Dance Company, the North Carolina Central University College of Arts and Sciences and Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Corporate Advisory Council. She is also an active member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. and The Links Inc. Ms. Bassett holds a Bachelor of Arts from North Carolina Central University and a Master of Arts from North Carolina A&T State University.

Alexi Giannoulias is Illinois’ Secretary of State and the former State Treasurer of Illinois. In office, Alexi has focused on modernizing the office’s services and ensuring that driver’s licenses and other services are more efficient. Alexi has also sought the input of Illinoisians – with his first official act as Secretary-elect being the release of a website for residents to submit recommendations and suggestions. 

As State Treasurer, Alexi pursued a progressive, reform agenda that focused on innovative initiatives and policies designed to curb ethical abuses, create jobs, safely invest taxpayer dollars and improve the financial futures of all Illinoisans. To prevent young adults from piling up debt, Alexi cracked down on credit card companies by authoring legislation to curb deceptive tactics marketers employed to prey on college students.Unlike other states, Illinois weathered the 2008 market meltdown because of the Treasurer’s conservative and diversified investment strategy. Alexi introduced securities lending, which earned more than $2 million revenue for the state in its first year. To address the nation’s worst unfunded pension liability, Alexi drafted legislation to save the state $16 billion dollars by paying down its pension debt. Alexi also set the pace on environmental initiatives, offering financial incentives for sustainable development and the purchase of hybrid vehicles. A lifelong Chicagoan, Alexi is the CEO & Founder of Annoula Ventures, which invests in start-ups in the Chicago area. 

Secretary of State Shenna Bellows is Maine’s 50th Secretary of State, sworn into her first two-year term in the position on Jan. 4, 2021. Secretary Bellows is Maine’s first female Secretary of State.

Secretary Bellows previously served two terms in the Maine Senate from 2016-2020, representing 11 towns in southern Kennebec County. In the Maine Senate, she served as Senate Chair of the Labor and Housing Committee and served on the Judiciary Committee.  She was a 2020 presidential elector in the Electoral College.

Secretary Bellows most recently led the Holocaust and Human Rights Center of Maine as executive director from 2018 to 2020. Previously, she owned Bellows & Company, a non-profit consulting business, where she worked with organizations such as the Sierra Club’s Maine Chapter, Consumers for Affordable Healthcare and the Maine Women’s Lobby. She also served as interim executive director of LearningWorks. In 2014, Secretary Bellows was the Democratic nominee for United States Senate in Maine.

From 2005 to 2013, Secretary Bellows was executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Maine. She was a member of the first Right to Know Advisory Committee and the Maine Freedom of Information Coalition. She served on the Executive Committee of the 2009 and 2012 ballot campaigns to pass marriage equality in Maine, and co-chaired a successful 2011 statewide ballot campaign to restore same-day voter registration. She was an original member of the Committee for Ranked Choice Voting.

Secretary Bellows grew up in Hancock and is a graduate of Ellsworth High School. She holds a B.A. in International Politics and Economics from Middlebury College. She volunteered with the Peace Corps in Panama and AmeriCorps VISTA in Nashville, Tennessee.

Secretary Bellows lives with her husband, Brandon, in Manchester, Maine.

Susan C. Lee, a respected civil rights attorney, was appointed by Governor Wes Moore to serve as Maryland’s Secretary of State in 2023. She was previously elected to the Maryland State Senate on November 4, 2014 after serving 12 years in the House of Delegates representing District 16. She is the first Asian American to serve as Maryland’s Secretary of State. Susan is also the first Asian American woman elected to the Maryland General Assembly. Susan served on the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee. In the House of Delegates, she was a Deputy Majority Whip, House Judiciary Committee Member, Chair of the Family Law Subcommittee, Vice Chair of the Montgomery County House Delegation, President of the Women’s Legislative Caucus (Women Legislators of Maryland) for two terms, Co-Chair of the Maryland Commission on Cyber Security, Innovation and Excellence, Co-Chair of the Task Force to Study Identity Theft, and Co-Chair of the Nanobiotechnology Task Force.

Benson is the author of State Secretaries of State: Guardians of the Democratic Process, the first major book on the role of the secretary of state in enforcing election and campaign finance laws.

Steve Simon is Minnesota’s 22nd Secretary of State. He was sworn into office on January 5, 2015, and as Minnesota’s chief elections administrator pledged in his inaugural address to “work with anyone, of any political affiliation, from any part of our state” to protect, defend, and strengthen the right to vote in Minnesota.

As Secretary of State, he partners with township, city, and county officials to organize elections on behalf of Minnesota’s nearly four million eligible voters, and to ensure that the election system is fair.

Simon also oversees a wide range of services for Minnesota businesses and administers the “Safe at Home” address confidentiality program for people whose personal safety is at risk, often due to physical abuse or threats.

His goals as Minnesota’s Secretary of State are straightforward: expand access to voting, remove barriers to voting, make business services as streamlined as possible, strengthen protections for victims of domestic violence and, most importantly, be a Secretary of State for all Minnesotans.

Before being elected Minnesota’s Secretary of State, Simon served in the Minnesota House of Representatives for ten years representing the communities of St. Louis Park and Hopkins.

Simon spent much of his time in the state legislature immersed in elections issues, including serving as the chair of the House Elections Committee in 2013 and 2014. He played a lead role in many of the election reforms that Minnesota has embraced over the last several years, including no-excuse absentee voting, online voter registration, and easier access to voting for Minnesotans overseas, including those in the military.

Simon also served as Assistant Attorney General of Minnesota and worked as a lawyer in private practice for several years.

Simon grew up in St. Louis Park and Hopkins. He graduated with a B.A in Political Science from Tufts University in Massachusetts in 1992, and earned a J.D. from the University of Minnesota Law School in 1996. Simon and his wife Leia live in Hopkins with their two children, Hannah and Noah, and  rescue dog, Hugo.

Francisco “Cisco” Aguilar was elected as Nevada Secretary of State in 2022 and assumed office on January 2, 2023. As an attorney and small business owner, and with years of experience in the private and public sectors, Aguilar brings a unique perspective and expertise into the Secretary of State’s Office.

Aguilar was born in Tucson, Arizona to a working-class family making the most of the American Dream. They worked hard to give Cisco the opportunities he had growing up, and he has done his best to make them proud. The first in his family to graduate from college, Cisco has a Bachelor of Science degree in finance and accounting, MBA and J.D. all from the University of Arizona. Secretary Aguilar is a member of the Nevada, California, and Arizona Bars.

Cisco Aguilar moved to Nevada more than 20 years ago and has spent his time working to improve the Silver State as an active member of his communities. One of the roles Aguilar is proudest of was becoming the founding Chairman of Cristo Rey St. Viator Board of Trustees. Cristo Rey serves students in one of Las Vegas’ most vulnerable neighborhoods, and provides a work-study program designed to prepare them for future careers.

He has worked as Special Counsel to Jim Rogers, Chancellor of the Nevada System of Higher Education and formerly served as General Counsel for Agassi Graf, the management company for tennis legends Andre Agassi and Stefanie Graf, and the Andre Agassi Foundation for Education.

His expertise in the intersection of athletics and law led to an appointment to the Nevada Athletic Commission, which regulates boxing and mixed martial arts. He was appointed by governors Jim Gibbons and Brian Sandoval, and served on the Commission for eight years. For two of those years, Aguilar was Chairman and made it his mission to make boxing and mixed martial arts fights safer and more accountable.

Tahesha Way serves as New Jersey’s 34th Secretary of State. Nominated for appointment by Governor Phil Murphy on December 18, 2017, Ms. Way was sworn in on February 26, 2018. As Secretary of State, Ms. Way holds one of the nation’s oldest constitutional offices and leads a department with a diverse portfolio. She serves as New Jersey’s top election official, overseeing the state Division of Elections and its work in securing our democracy and ensuring broad, fair access to the right to vote. Ms. Way also chairs New Jersey’s Complete Count Commission, a 27 member non-partisan commission established to encourage full participation in the 2020 Census. In addition to the critical work protecting what Secretary Way calls the “fraternal twins of democracy,” Ms. Way also oversees the state government offices supporting New Jersey’s vibrant arts, culture, history, and business communities.

Secretary Way is a graduate of Brown University, where she served as Vice President of the collegiate chapter of the NAACP, President of her Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, taught religious education, and was a radio announcer for WBRU-FM. Ms. Way holds a juris doctor from the University of Virginia School of Law at Charlottesville, where she clerked for the Virginia Legal Aid Society and the United Steelworkers of America.

Secretary Way lives in Passaic County with her husband, former New York Giant and NFL executive Charles Way, and their four daughters. Secretary Way has been a member of the New Jersey State Bar Association, Garden State Bar Association, National Association of Women Judges, Association of Black Women Lawyers, Passaic County Bar Association, and the New Jersey Women’s Lawyers Association.

Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver has spent her career as a public official working for greater transparency and ethics in government, fair and efficient elections, and increased voter access.

First elected in 2016, Secretary of State Toulouse Oliver is focused on providing increased transparency in financial disclosure and campaign finance reporting, modernizing the online campaign finance system, encouraging New Mexicans to get registered and vote, and advocating for good government and stronger ethics legislation.

A lifelong New Mexico resident, Secretary of State Toulouse Oliver previously served as Bernalillo County Clerk from 2007 to 2016.  She attended Albuquerque Public Schools and earned both her BA and MA in Political Science from the University of New Mexico. Currently living in Santa Fe, the Secretary of State is the proud mother of two sons.

Robert J. Rodriguez is currently serving as the Acting Secretary of State. He was nominated by Governor Kathy Hochul to serve as New York’s 68th Secretary of State.

He has specialized in providing advice to state and local governments, and transportation issues in the Northeast and Midwest focused on financial planning, credit rating strategy, managing and executing debt issuance transactions, asset-liability management and public-private partnerships.

As a legislator, Mr. Rodriguez served as a member of the New York State Assembly 11 years, representing Assembly District 68. During his time in the Assembly, he focused on protecting and creating affordable housing, bringing good jobs into the community and ensuring children received a quality education. He served as Co-Chair of the Legislative Task Force on Demographic Research and Reapportionment, founding Chair of the Assembly sub-committee on Infrastructure and Member of Committees on Ways and Means, Housing, Labor, Banking, Corporations and Authorities and Mental Health.

In the private sector, he served as a Director at Public Financial Management, the leading municipal financial advisor in the nation. Prior to PFM, Mr. Rodriguez was a Vice-President at A.C. Advisory, Inc. and held various management and operations roles at Bloomberg LP.

In 1996, Secretary of State Elaine F. Marshall became the first woman ever elected to a statewide, executive branch office in North Carolina.

Secretary Marshall was a member of the NC State Senate before rising to statewide office. She holds a B.S. in Home Economics from the University of Maryland and a law degree from Campbell University. She has received Honorary Doctorate Degrees from Campbell University, Lees-McRae College, Meredith College and the Republic of Moldova Testemitanu State University of Medicine.

Her work experiences include teaching Home Economics in the public school and community college systems, co-ownership of a book and gift store, establishing an interior decorating business and the private practice of law.

Secretary Marshall has been very active in many civic groups in the areas of child welfare, women’s issues, and agriculture and small town economic development.

Since becoming Secretary of State, she has received numerous state and national awards for leadership in technology, government innovation, and women’s leadership, including:

• 2017 Medallion Award for Outstanding Leadership in Business Services and Electronic Governance from the National Association of Secretaries of State;
• President of the National Association of Secretaries of State, 2015;
• The North Carolina 4-H Lifetime Achievement Award;
• The Moldovan Order of Honor, the highest distinction Moldova awards to non-Moldovan citizens;
• Leadership awards from Common Cause North Carolina, the NCAE and the Delta Kappa Gamma Society;
• Named to National Notary Magazine’s list of “The 50 Most Influential People in Notarization in the Last 50 Years”;
• And Secretary Marshall has even received an official “Gold Record” from the Recording Industry Association of America for her law enforcement work to protect Trademarked goods and patent holders, as well as being named an honorary member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police for trademark protection!

She is married to Jessie Thomas Bunn.

Secretary of State Gregg Amore is a Townie, and a Rhode Islander, through and through. He is a proud lifelong resident of East Providence where he has been a teacher, coach, and community volunteer for over thirty years. He married his high school sweetheart Lee (Smith) and together they have two (now adult) daughters, Tess and Megan. Born on October 28, 1966, Amore graduated from East Providence High School in 1984 before continuing his education at Providence College, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in history in 1988. In 2010, he earned a master’s degree in public policy from New England College.

Gregg taught Advanced Placement United States History and United States Civics and Government courses at East Providence High School for twenty-seven years, and in 2008 was recognized as the Rhode Island History Teacher of the Year by the Daughters of the American Revolution. He served as East Providence High School’s Close-Up and United States Senate Youth Program advisor for fifteen years. He was instrumental in the process to build and finance the new East Providence High School, which opened its doors in September of 2021.

In 2017, Gregg took over as the East Providence School District Athletic Administrator and is credited with significantly expanding East Providence’s Unified Sports/Special Olympics programs during his tenure. Gregg has enjoyed a rewarding high school and college coaching career in both hockey and baseball, including serving as head baseball coach at La Salle Academy, East Providence High School, and the United States Naval Academy Prep School in Newport. He led the Townies to a hockey championship in 2005 and was an assistant baseball coach at Providence College where he also played as a member of the Friars team in the 1980s.

Committed to public service, Gregg ran for State Representative in 2012 and served the residents of East Providence with distinction for ten years. During his time in office, he has served as a Deputy Majority Leader, chairman of the House Committee on Small Business, chairman of the House Finance Subcommittee on Education, and second vice chair of the House Committee on Education. He has also served as a member of the House Committee on Finance, House Committee on Municipal Government, and the House Committee on Innovation, Internet and Technology. He is widely credited with advancing the House of Representatives’ education agenda, which has included key education reform legislation related to curriculum and site based management. He has championed efforts to significantly increase English Language Learner categorical funding, school construction initiatives, the retention and recruitment of teachers of color, and making college more affordable for Rhode Islanders. In 2021, he was honored by the Rhode Island School Superintendents’ Association with the Paul Crowley Award for his commitment to public education.

In 2021, Representative Amore cosponsored the law which requires students to demonstrate proficiency in civics education before high school graduation, earning him recognition from the League of Women Voters, who awarded him their Civic Engagement Award. In 2021 and 2022, Gregg called for the passage of and cosponsored the Let RI Vote Act – a bill (became law in 2022) that significantly expanded access to the ballot. Additionally, Gregg has been twice selected as the Mothers Against Drunk Driving – RI Legislator of the Year for his legislative efforts around curbing drunk driving. Representative Amore earned a place in the American Cancer Society’s “Cancer Caucus” for his sponsorship and advocacy on behalf of legislation passed in 2013 that required health insurance providers to cover oral chemotherapy. In 2022, Representative Amore was the recipient of the Rhode Island Coalition Against Domestic Violence Legislative Champion Award for his sponsorship of an expansive address confidentiality law that will be administered through the Rhode Island Department of State.

Sarah Copeland Hanzas is Vermont’s Secretary of State and a former State Representative. She started her career teaching science and coaching youth and high school field hockey, basketball, and softball. In 2010, Copeland Hanzas co-founded The Local Buzz Cafe on Main Street in Bradford, because she saw a need for a local meeting spot in her town. She spent 11 years operating the cafe, serving food and coffee. 

In the State Legislature, Sarah has been a leader on climate action, increasing access to the ballot box and improved government transparency. Sarah led the efforts in Vermont for racial justice reform and sensible cannabis reform. She has served as House Majority Leader, and is currently Chair of the Government Operations committee – where she led the fight to expand voting access and make Vermont a universal vote-by-mail state. She received national recognition for her groundbreaking work on Sexual Harassment legislation. Her 2018 legislation was called the strongest in the nation. Her leadership made Vermont the first state in the nation to protect firefighters, EMT and police personnel by demanding parity for PTSD treatment, protecting our first responders and helping them get back on the job. Sarah was lead sponsor of the Global Warming Solutions Act, requiring Vermont to meet its emissions reduction goals. 

As Secretary of State, she will fight for free and fair elections, implement recently-passed campaign finance legislation that made it easier for women and care-givers to run for office and be a partner for the Vermont business community. 

Steve Hobbs is Washington’s 16th Secretary of State. He was appointed by Gov. Inslee to replace Kim Wyman, who resigned in 2021 to join the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. Secretary Hobbs began his tenure Nov. 22, 2021.

Secretary Hobbs is responsible for managing state and local elections, corporation and charity filings, Washington State Library, Washington Talking Book & Braille Library, and Washington State Archives. In addition, his office oversees the Combined Fund Drive for charitable giving by state employees, and administers the state’s Address Confidentiality Program to help protect survivors of crime.

Prior to his appointment as Secretary of State, Hobbs was the state senator for Washington’s 44th legislative district, having first been elected in 2006. During his tenure he served as chair of the Transportation Committee, and was a member of the Business, Financial Services & Trade; and Environment, Energy & Technology committees.

As state senator, Hobbs adopted an expansive policy agenda that included local job creation through helping small businesses and improving transportation infrastructure. He promoted legislation to enhance state government accountability, and worked with the community to create new and innovative approaches to strengthening education.

Secretary Hobbs is a lieutenant colonel in the Washington Army National Guard and proudly served in Kosovo and Iraq. In 2020, he was mobilized to command 750 service members during Washington’s COVID-19 response. Hobbs was responsible for all Guard personnel located at Western Washington food banks from Skagit County to Pierce County. As state senator, he continually advocated for Washington state’s service members and their families by drafting policies that recognize the complex needs of men and women in the military.