Michael Gene Adams (born March 27, 1976) is an American politician who is a member of the Republican Party. He is the secretary of state of the

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

. He succeeded Alison Lundergan Grimes on January 6, 2020.

Early life and career

Adams is from

Paducah, Kentucky Paducah ( ) is a List of cities in Kentucky, home rule-class city in the Upland South, and the county seat of McCracken County, Kentucky, United States. The most populous city in the Jackson Purchase region, it is located in the Southeastern Unit ...

. He graduated from

Reidland High School Reidland High School was a public secondary school (grades 9–12) located in Paducah, Kentucky. Its mascot was the Greyhound, and its school colors were red and white. The school closed in 2013 with the consolidation of the three high schools in ...

, the

University of Louisville The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public university, public research university in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. Chartered in 1798 as the Jefferson Seminary, it became in the 19t ...

, and

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...

. Adams was the first in his family to get a bachelor's degree and attended Harvard Law School on low-income aid. After law school, Adams served as a judicial law clerk for Chief Judge John G. Heyburn II, of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky. He worked for

Mitch McConnell Addison Mitchell McConnell III (; born February 20, 1942) is an American politician and attorney serving as the senior United States senator from Kentucky, a seat he has held since 1985. McConnell is in his seventh Senate term and is the long ...

and

Ernie Fletcher Ernest Lee Fletcher (born November 12, 1952) is an American physician and politician who was the List of governors of Kentucky, 60th governor of Kentucky from 2003 to 2007. He previously served three consecutive terms in the United States House ...

before becoming counsel to the deputy attorney general of the United States during the second term of President George W. Bush. After the Bush administration, Adams served as general counsel to the Republican Governors Association, before working in election law. He served as

Mike Pence Michael Richard Pence (born June 7, 1959) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 48th vice president of the United States from 2017 to 2021 under President Donald Trump. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Repub ...

's political law attorney. Adams served as the campaign attorney for Eric Greitens.

Kentucky Secretary of State

Electoral history

2019 election

In the

2019 elections The following elections were scheduled to occur in 2019. The International Foundation for Electoral Systems has a calendar of upcoming elections around the world, and the National Democratic Institute also maintains a calendar of elections in cou ...

, Adams ran for Secretary of State of Kentucky as a Republican. He defeated former Kentucky Second Lady Heather French Henry in the general election on November 5.

2023 election

Adams announced his re-election bid on August 5, 2022. He faced challengers Stephen Knipper and Allen Maricle in the primary election on May 16, 2023. He defeated both with 63.9% of the vote. He defeated Democratic challenger Buddy Wheatley in the general election on November 7, 2023.

Election results

Tenure

Adams' highest legislative priority in his campaign was changing state law to require photo identification of voters. On April 14, 2020, in the midst of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, the

Kentucky General Assembly The Kentucky General Assembly, also called the Kentucky Legislature, is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Kentucky. It comprises the Kentucky Senate and the Kentucky House of Representatives. The General Assembly meets annually in th ...

passed a Voter ID law over Democratic Governor

Andy Beshear Andrew Graham Beshear ( ; born November 29, 1977) is an American attorney and politician serving as the 63rd governor of Kentucky since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 50th attorney gen ...

's veto. During the 2020 General Election, Adams implemented expanded procedures giving voters in Kentucky options to safely cast votes during the

which included excuse-free absentee voting and three weeks of open polls. Adams' plan for the 2020 elections resulted in record voter turnout in Kentucky and received praise as a national model for how to conduct elections during a health pandemic. In the 2021 legislative session, Adams led an effort to make several of the election reforms permanent. The legislation garnered bipartisan support, and Governor Beshear signed it into law on April 7, 2021. The election reform measure includes 3 days of early in-person voting, transitions the state toward universal paper ballots, keeps the online portal for requesting absentee ballots, and allows counties to establish vote centers. In 2024, Adams received the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award for his work.

References

External links

Office of Kentucky Secretary of State Michael Adams
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Adams, Michael 21st-century American lawyers 21st-century Kentucky politicians George W. Bush administration personnel Harvard Law School alumni Kentucky lawyers Kentucky Republicans Living people Politicians from Paducah, Kentucky Secretaries of state of Kentucky University of Louisville alumni 1976 births