Kimberley Marie Wyman (born July 15, 1962) is an American politician who served as the 15th

Secretary of State of Washington The secretary of state of Washington is an independently elected constitutional officer in the executive branch of the government of the U.S. state of Washington. Fifteen individuals have held the office of Secretary of State since statehood. Th ...

from 2013 to 2021. Wyman resigned as Secretary of State on November 19, 2021, to work on election security at the

Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) is a component of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) responsible for cybersecurity and infrastructure protection across all levels of government, coordinating cyber ...

in the

Biden administration Joe Biden's tenure as the List of presidents of the United States, 46th president of the United States began with Inauguration of Joe Biden, his inauguration on January 20, 2021, and ended on January 20, 2025. Biden, a member of the Democr ...

. , Wyman is the last Republican to have held statewide office in the State of Washington, or in any of the three contiguous West Coast states.

Early life and education

Wyman attended college at

California State University, Long Beach California State University, Long Beach (CSULB), also known in athletics as Long Beach State University (LBSU), is a public teaching-focused institution in Long Beach, California, United States. The 322-acre campus is the second largest in the ...

and lived abroad after graduation. Barriers to voting in US elections while living in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

inspired her to become an elections official. She earned her

Master of Public Administration A Master of Public Administration (MPA) is a specialized professional graduate degree in public administration that prepares students for leadership roles, similar or equivalent to a Master of Business Administration but with an emphasis on the ...

degree from

Troy University Troy University is a public university in Troy, Alabama, United States. It was founded in 1887 as Troy State Normal School within the Alabama State University System, and is now the flagship university of the Troy University System. It was one ...

's European Division. Wyman was one of the first public officials to become a Certified Elections/Registration Administrator from

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama, United States. With more than 26,800 undergraduate students, over 6,100 post-graduate students, and a tota ...

Political career

In 2001, Wyman was appointed as Thurston County Auditor, succeeding Sam Reed. She was elected to the position in 2002 and reelected in 2006 and 2010. In the 2012 Washington state elections, Wyman was elected Secretary of State, succeeding Sam Reed, narrowly defeating her Democratic opponent, former state Representative Kathleen Drew. Wyman was the only Republican elected to statewide office in the state. She was endorsed in the election by the '' Walla Walla Union-Bulletin'', '' The Wenatchee World'', the ''

Tri-City Herald The ''Tri-City Herald'' is a twice-weekly newspaper based in Kennewick, Washington, United States. Owned by The McClatchy Company, the newspaper serves southeastern Washington state, including the three cities of Kennewick, Pasco and Richland ...

'', and ''

The Seattle Times ''The Seattle Times'' is an American daily newspaper based in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1891, ''The Seattle Times'' has the largest circulation of any newspaper in the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region. The Seattle Time ...

''. The ''Times'' cited her bipartisan appeal and experience as an elections administrator in its endorsement. She was also endorsed by the Washington Education Association, which normally endorses Democrats. In the

2016 elections Africa Benin Republic *2016 Beninese presidential election 6 March 2016 Cape Verde * 2016 Cape Verdean presidential election 2 October 2016 Chad * 2016 Chadian presidential election 10 April 2016 Djibouti * 2016 Djiboutian presidential ...

, Wyman was reelected, defeating former

Seattle City Council The Seattle City Council is the legislative body of the city of Seattle, Washington. The Council consists of nine members serving four-year terms, seven of which are elected by electoral districts and two of which are elected in citywide at-larg ...

woman Tina Podlodowski with 55% of the vote. Wyman was re-elected to a third term in the 2020 election, defeating Democratic State Representative Gael Tarleton with 54% of the vote. On October 27, 2021, Wyman announced that she would resign as Secretary of State to join the

in the

to work on election security. Her resignation took effect on November 19.

Personal life

Wyman lives in

Lacey, Washington Lacey is a city in Thurston County, Washington, United States. It is a suburb of Olympia, Washington, Olympia with a population of 53,526 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Washington, 24th mos ...

, with her husband John and their two children. She has run in several

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of kilometres ( 26 mi 385 yd), usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There ...

s. In March 2017, Wyman was diagnosed with an early form of

colon cancer Colorectal cancer (CRC), also known as bowel cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer from the colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). Signs and symptoms may include blood in the stool, a change in bowel ...

Electoral history

References

External links

Campaign website
*
Kim Wyman
at

Project Vote Smart Vote Smart, formerly called Project Vote Smart, is an American non-profit, non-partisan research organization that collects and distributes information on candidates for public office in the United States. It covers candidates and elected offic ...

* *
Profile
from Thurston County {{DEFAULTSORT:Wyman, Kim 1962 births 21st-century Washington (state) politicians 21st-century American women politicians American expatriates in Germany California State University, Long Beach alumni County officials in Washington (state) Living people People from Lacey, Washington Place of birth missing (living people) Secretaries of state of Washington (state) Troy University alumni United States Department of Homeland Security officials Women government officials Washington (state) Republicans Women in Washington (state) politics