Dem
55
Ties
1
GOP
44
The 2026 elections seem to have gone smoothly, but that is no guarantee for the even-more-important 2028 elections. Election deniers are still afoot and could try to sabotage the 2028 elections, when the stakes are even higher (and steak prices will be MUCH higher). As we noted Monday, thirteen of the fourteen most populous states have Democratic governors, which makes election shenanigans harder, but not impossible if a corrupt secretary of state gives the governor fake numbers.
However, anyone planning to steal an election has another barrier to breach before even getting to the governor: the aforementioned secretary of state. In most states, it is the secretary of state who actually runs the elections. Here are the secretaries of state per Jan. 2027 by party. Alaska and Kansas are not 100% clear yet.
| State | Party | Assumed office | Result |
| Alaska | Lt. Gov Zac Johnson (D) | 2027 | Flip R to D |
| Arizona | Adrian Fontes (D) | 2023 | Re-elected |
| California | Shirley Weber (D) | 2021 | Re-elected |
| Colorado | Amanda Gonzalez (D) | 2027 | Hold |
| Connecticut | Stephanie Thomas (D) | 2023 | Re-elected |
| Delaware | Charuni Patibanda-Sanchez (D) | 2025 | Appointed by the governor |
| Georgia | Penny Reynolds (D) | 2027 | Flip R to D |
| Hawaii | Lt Gov. Derek Kawakami (D) | 2027 | Re-elected |
| Illinois | Alexi Giannoulias (D) | 2023 | Re-elected |
| Indiana | Beau Bayh (D) | 2027 | Flip R to D |
| Maine | Shenna Bellows (D) | 2021 | Elected by the legislature |
| Maryland | Susan Lee (D) | 2023 | Appointed by the governor |
| Massachusetts | William Galvin (D) | 1995 | Re-elected |
| Michigan | Garlin Gilchrist (D) | 2027 | Hold |
| Minnesota | Steve Simon (D) | 2015 | Re-elected |
| Nevada | Cisco Aguilar (D) | 2023 | Re-elected |
| New Jersey | Shirley Emehelu (D) | 2026 | Appointed by the governor |
| New Mexico | Lopez Askin (D) | 2027 | Hold |
| New York | Walter Mosley (D) | 2024 | Appointed by the governor |
| North Carolina | Elaine Marshall (D) | 1997 | No election |
| Ohio | Allison Russo (D) | 2027 | Flip R to D |
| Oregon | Tobias Read (D) | 2025 | No election |
| Rhode Island | Gregg Amore (D) | 2023 | Re-elected |
| Vermont | Sarah Copeland Hanzas (D) | 2023 | Re-elected |
| Virginia | Candi King (D) | 2026 | Appointed by the governor |
| Washington | Steve Hobbs (D) | 2021 | No election |
| Wisconsin | JoCasta Zamarripa (D) | 2027 | Hold |
| Alabama | Caroleene Dobson (R) | 2027 | Hold |
| Arkansas | Kim Hammer (R) | 2027 | Hold |
| Florida | Cord Byrd (R) | 2023 | Appointed by the governor |
| Idaho | Phil McGrane (R) | 2023 | Re-elected |
| Kansas | Pat Proctor (R) | 2019 | ? |
| Iowa | Paul Pate (R) | 2015 | Re-elected |
| Kentucky | Michael Adams (R) | 2020 | No election |
| Louisiana | Nancy Landry (R) | 2024 | No election |
| Mississippi | Michael D. Watson Jr. (R) | 2020 | No election |
| Missouri | Denny Hoskins (R) | 2025 | No election |
| Montana | Christi Jacobsen (R) | 2021 | No election |
| Nebraska | Scott Petersen (R) | 2027 | Hold |
| New Hampshire | David Scanlan (R) | 2022 | Elected by the legislature |
| North Dakota | Michael Howe (R) | 2023 | Re-elected |
| Oklahoma | Benjamin Lepak (R) | 2026 | Appointed by the governor |
| Pennsylvania | Al Schmidt (R) | 2023 | Appointed by the governor |
| South Carolina | Mark Hammond (R) | 2003 | Re-elected |
| South Dakota | Heather Baxter (R) | 2027 | Hold |
| Tennessee | Tre Hargett (R) | 2009 | Elected by the legislature |
| Texas | Robert Howden (R) | 2026 | Appointed by the governor |
| Utah | Lt Gov. Deidre Henderson (R) | 2021 | No election |
| West Virginia | Kris Warner (R) | 2025 | No election |
| Wyoming | Robert Short (R) | 2027 | Hold |
Democrats flipped Georgia, Indiana, and Ohio, and will effectively flip Alaska if Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins is elected governor because his running mate, Zac Johnson (D), will then become lieutenant governor. In Alaska, the lieutenant governor runs elections. Those Alaskans are smart. Not only do they have four-way ranked-choice general elections to prevent spoilers from affecting the results, but they give the lieutentant governor something to do all day by handling elections (and save money by not having to pay a secretary of state). If you are curious about what powers lieutenant governors have in all 50 states, here is a nice table showing them. It varies quite a bit by state.
In 2028, Democrats will control election administration in 16 of the 17 states with the closest margins in 2024. The one exception is North Carolina, where the Republican-controlled legislature gutted the powers of Democratic officials in 2024. However, they gave the power to the Board of Elections, which now has a Democratic majority.
Secretaries of state must follow laws made by the state legislatures on things like when early voting is and whether ID is needed to vote, but they do control the nuts and bolts of voting, like how many ballot drop boxes will be placed and where, and how they will be monitored. With new Democratic trifectas in the key swing states of Arizona, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, Democratic lawmakers could make voting easier by increasing early voting days and hours and more.
The only populous states with a Republican secretary of state are Florida, Pennsylvania and Texas. Gov.-elect Byron Donalds (R) will get to appoint the new Florida secretary of state. The current Pennsylvania secretary of state is Al Schmidt (R). He is a straight shooter and was appointed by Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-PA). He has denounced election deniers and called Donald Trump's claims "completely ridiculous." In Texas, Robert Howden's term ends Jan. 19, 2027. Then, Gov. Gina Hinojosa (D-TX) will submit a nomination to the Texas Senate for confirmation. So, in practice, the only big state where there could be monkey business in 2028 is Florida. (V)