Zach Montellaro for Politico:
Twenty-five states will elect their chief election officers this November — a slate of contests already drawing outsize attention, money and competition as former President Donald Trump continues undermining the results of the last national election.
The jobs vary from state to state. But many secretaries of State (and a handful of other posts with similar job descriptions) play a role in certifying election results, along with setting policies that govern election procedures in states including a number of closely divided presidential battlegrounds.
POLITICO spoke with more than 20 candidates, senior campaign aides and outside group operatives from both parties to paint a picture of the 2022 battleground map for these once-obscure elections. The focus on them has been magnified by Trump’s conspiracy theories about the 2020 election he lost — both his attempts to overturn the results in 2020 and, now, his drive to install loyalists in key election posts around the country before a potential comeback campaign in 2024.
Now, Trump is backing candidates for secretary of State in open battleground races as well as challenging Republicans in primaries who did not back his claims about voter fraud or his efforts to block election certification in 2020.
“Historically, they’ve been incredibly overlooked. But if you think about 2020, you see exactly how important these races are,” said Kim Rogers, the executive director of the Democratic Association of Secretaries of State.
The Republican State Leadership Committee, the GOP’s national campaign arm responsible for secretary of state races, declined an interview request. In a statement, RSLC spokesperson Andrew Romeo said that his organization expected national liberals to spend “record money” on secretary races in 2022, and that “the stakes for electing conservative secretaries in 2022 could not be higher.”
Romeo added the group had “no plans” to spend in primaries this year, the first time the group has publicly disclosed that decision.
At least nine states are guaranteed to have new chief election officials next year, heading into an almost-assuredly contentious 2024 presidential election, including major battleground states like Nevada and Arizona. Here’s how the map stacks up.