Regena Thomas (born 1957) is the former

Secretary of State of New Jersey The secretary of state of New Jersey oversees the Department of State, which is one of the original state offices. The Secretary is responsible for overseeing New Jersey State Council on the Arts, artistic, cultural, and New Jersey Historical Com ...

and a

political consultant Political consulting is a form of consulting that consists primarily of advising and assisting political campaigns. Although the most important role of political consultants is arguably the development and production of mass media (largely televi ...

. She served in the cabinets of former Gov.

James McGreevey James Edward McGreevey (born August 6, 1957) is an American politician of the Democratic Party who served as the 52nd governor of New Jersey from 2002 until his resignation in 2004 amidst a sex scandal. McGreevey served in the New Jersey Genera ...

and former Gov.

Richard Codey Richard James Codey (born November 27, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 53rd governor of New Jersey from 2004 to 2006. A member of the Democratic Party, he served in the New Jersey Senate from 1982 to 2024 and as the President ...

. Secretary Thomas worked in state government in

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 ...

and local government in the

District of Columbia Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...

. She became an expert on political consulting and in voter turnout for Democratic candidates. Her work led to founding her own political consulting firm and she has a history working with statewide candidates in New Jersey. She handled

get out the vote "Get out the vote" or "getting out the vote" (GOTV) describes efforts aimed at increasing the voter turnout in elections. In countries that do not have or enforce compulsory voting, voter turnout can be low, sometimes even below a third of the e ...

efforts for the 1996

U.S. Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...

campaign of Rep.

Robert Torricelli Robert Guy Torricelli (born August 27, 1951) is an American attorney and former politician. A Democrat, Torricelli served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New Jersey's 9th district from 1983 to 1997 and as a United States ...

, the 2000 U.S. Senate campaign of

Jon Corzine Jon Stevens Corzine ( ; born January 1, 1947) is an American financial executive and retired politician who served as a United States Senator from New Jersey from 2001 to 2006, and the 54th governor of New Jersey from 2006 to 2010. Corzine ran f ...

and McGreevey's 2001 campaign for governor. She also worked on Corzine's 2005 campaign for governor. After McGreevey's 2001 election, he appointed Thomas to a four-year term as Secretary of State. As Secretary of State, Thomas held responsibility for the state archives, cultural affairs, minority affairs,

volunteerism Volunteering is an elective and freely chosen act of an individual or group giving their time and labor, often for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency ...

, Native American affairs, literacy, state history, and record keeping. McGreevey reportedly considered transferring state elections to the Secretary of State from the

New Jersey Attorney General The attorney general of New Jersey is a member of the executive cabinet of the state and oversees the New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety, Department of Law and Public Safety. The office is appointed by the governor of New Jersey, confi ...

's office, but received criticism because of Thomas' background in political consulting. State elections administration had been under the Secretary of State until former Gov.

Christine Todd Whitman Christine Temple Whitman (; born September 26, 1946) is an American politician and author who served as the 50th governor of New Jersey from 1994 to 2001 and as Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency under President George W. Bush ...

transferred it to the attorney general. During Thomas' tenure, she received criticism from state lawmakers for taking time off and for what they considered to be political work from her state office. Thomas said she did any political work in her spare time and in 2004 she took a multimonth leave of absence to "recharge her batteries." Thomas also spent part of this leave working on the presidential campaign of

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

Sen.

John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician, and diplomat who served as the 68th United States secretary of state from 2013 to 2017 in the Presidency of Barack Obama#Administration, administration of Barac ...

and

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

Sen.

John Edwards Johnny Reid Edwards (born June 10, 1953) is an American lawyer and former politician who represented North Carolina in the United States Senate from 1999 to 2005. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the vice presidential nominee under ...

. It was reported that Thomas was interested in becoming

United States Ambassador to Haiti This is a list of United States ambassadors to Haiti. See also * Haiti – United States relations * Foreign relations of Haiti * Ambassadors of the United States References * External links United States Department of State: Chiefs o ...

if Kerry had won the 2004 presidential election. As a part of Thomas' official duties as secretary of state, she was charged with accepting McGreevey's resignation in November 2004. Thomas left office in January 2006 when her four-year constitutionally mandated term expired.

National Democratic Committee

Thomas was promoted to director of community engagement, while continuing her current role as political department senior adviser in 2014.

References

External links

* Living people People from Kentucky Secretaries of state of New Jersey New Jersey Democrats African-American people in New Jersey politics African-American state cabinet secretaries 1957 births {{NewJersey-politician-stub