Endorsed by the Oregonian and other leading newspapers, Brown is a strong voice for ethics reform and has pledged not to get involved in political campaigns while serving as the state's chief election officer if elected. As a legislator, she has also made her mark as a supporter of domestic partnership legislation.

Brown will face Republican Rick Dancer in the general election. Rick Dancer enjoys unusually high name recognition for a down ballot candidate -- he's a TV news anchorman. Many were shocked when he announced his candidacy for Secretary of State live on air during his evening television news broadcast. Dancer's station is owned by a conservative who has given over $90,000 to Republican candidates in recent years.

To raise the sakes, Oregon is one of five states: Illinois, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah and Virginia - that place no limits on campaign contributions to candidates.

Stay tuned for more on Kate Brown's general election candidacy.

She campaigned on a platform that included making it easier for students to vote, increasing citizen participation in the pollworker program and encouraging peer-to-peer get out the vote programs.

A former television news anchor, Tennant beat out Senate Majority Leader Joe DeLong, even though he outspent her $263,528 to $41,684 (according to the latest campaign finance reports).

She faces Charles Minimah, the republican nominee, in the general election. Minimah was unopposed in the primary.

If Tennant is elected, she will replace Republican Secretary of State Betty Ireland who decided not to run for another term. Ireland is currently working hard to oppose Election Day Registration in West Virginia.

CLEVELAND (AP) - The elections board in Cuyahoga County says a hand-count audit of votes from the presidential primary matches the results from scanned paper ballots.

A sample of 30,000 paper ballots from 99 precincts were hand-counted by teams composed of Republicans and Democrats last week.

Board of Elections Deputy Director Pat McDonald said Monday that the voluntary audit was part of a pilot program of Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner to help determine consistency and performance of high-speed optical scanning.

Cuyahoga County switched to high-speed optical scan from touch-screen electronic voting for the March 4 primary.

It was SoS Brunner who required Cuyahoga County to switch from DREs to optical scan ballots. Finally Cuyahoga County can count.

There are two states with open races for Secretary of State in 2008: Oregon and West Virginia.

In Oregon, three State Senators are running for the Democratic nomination: Kate Brown, Vicki Walker, and Rick Metsger. The winner will be determined in the primary on May 20.

West Virginia’s primary is May 13. Three candidates are vying for the Democratic nomination there: Billy Wayne Bailey, Joe DeLong, and Natalie Tennant.

In two states there will be challenges to a sitting incumbent Republican. In Montana, Democrat Linda McCulloch is trying to unseat ultra-conservative Brad Johnson. In Washington, Democratic candidates have until June 6 to file to take on Republican Sam Reed.

In Missouri, Democrat Robin Carnahan should easily win reelection to her chief election officer position. However, given the importance of a fair election in Missouri, we need to be vigilant in this state.

We are also looking to elect reform-minded Democrats to key county posts in 2008 battleground states. A number of stark examples from 2004 and 2000, like Cuyahoga Co. in Ohio and Broward Co. in Florida, prove that manipulative county-level elections officials can exert a tremendous amount of influence over  their results. Removing Republican operatives in two or three key counties could have a profound effect on the election.

If you have suggestions for 2008 targeting email us at secstateproject - at - gmail - dot - com.

As an influential Republican operative, Rokita's Supreme Court victory may lead to a wave of similar laws in other states. If passed before the 2008 election, new photo ID laws could even deliver a decisive margin in the 2008 presidential race.

Once again, the GOP has shown its command of an immutable political truth -- he who controls the machinery of elections can control the outcome of elections. It's time for progressives to fight back.

• Replaced Cuyahoga County's DREs with paper ballot machines

• Made it possible for any Ohio voter to request a paper ballot in the 2008 election

• Ordered Ohio's public universities to provide utility bills for all students – an easy form of ID to make sure students are not turned away from the polls as they were in 2004

Having proven in 2006 that the SoS Project model works, we are looking to build on our success by supporting candidates committed to reform in 2008. Our targeting is still in process, but we are monitoring races in Oregon, Missouri, Washington, Montana and West Virginia. We are also researching a few county election official races in 2008 battleground states.

We invite suggestions for additional races of interest. Send us an email with your ideas to secstateproject-at-gmail-dot-com.

And the results show it, with Republican romps in two states and a tight race in Kentucky only because of strong gubernatorial coat tails.

Republican Jay Dardenne handily won the Louisiana race for Secretary of State - he had no serious opposition in the race.

Republican Delbert Hosemann is riding a strong financial advantage to a likely win in Mississippi over democrat Rob Smith.

Republican Trey Grayson clings to a narrow lead in Kentucky. The democratic candidate, Bruce Hendrickson, is a strong advocate of voter ID and a gun rights activist. The only reason he is this close is becuase he benefits from the democratic voting wave.

It makes you wonder what these 2007 races could have looked like with progressive candidates and a strong grassroots ground effort.

There are several progressive candidates lining up for 2008 races. Stay tuned for opportunities to make a difference in 2008. 

The big reason Democrats want to hold onto this job, and Republicans want to take it away, is that the secretary of state is Mississippi's top elections officer and, as such, could influence legislators on issues such as voter identification.

Or so explains the AP in a round up piece on the Mississippi SoS race.  

Real estate developer and former state senator Rob Smith won Mississippi's Secretary of State primary on August 20. Clarion-Ledger perspectives editor Sid Salter has the story.

In the primary, Smith framed his strengths around running the Secretary of State's office like a business.  He did come out against voter ID, but voting reform has not been the centerpiece of his campaign. In fact, his campaign home page doesn't even mention any positions he might have on election reform. 

Kate Brown,  state senator from Portland

Vicki Walker, state senator from Eugene

Hank Avakian, state senator from Portland/Beaverton

Also reportedly considering a bid is Rick Metsger, state senator from Welches.

In Oregon, the Secretary of State has a key role in redistricting. If the governor and legislature can't agree on a redistricting, the Secretary of State gets to write the plan.

As a Pacific Northwest political operative told us recently, the Secretary of State office is the "backstop for fair redistricting in Oregon in 2010" and a crucial race that we must win in 2008.

Despite the fact that the Republican Secretary of State has been on the job less than a year, Louisiana democrats can't field ANY candidate for the post that runs their state's elections.

Not to mention the fact that tens of thousands of voters displaced by Katrina faced draconian standards for casting a ballot in 2006, or that republicans are poised to take back the legislature and possibly the Governor's mansion in 2008.

We've written about it here. But now the AP has the story. 

Democrats say they're having trouble finding people to run for two statewide elected positions on this fall's ballot, insurance commissioner and secretary of state - even though the Republican incumbents, Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon and Secretary of State Jay Dardenne, have been on the job less than a year.

"We don't really have anybody on the radar right now. That's not for lack of trying," said Julie Vezinot, spokeswoman for the Louisiana Democratic Party.

...

While the South has become a region of red states, Louisiana has lagged in the shift. Though Louisiana is a conservative state, the majority of registered voters remain Democrats, as do the number of elected officials. But Republican voter registration has risen, and the GOP has gained a number of elected jobs, a strong foothold Republicans hope to further this election season.

Sadow said the state has increasing Republican proclivities that were hastened by Hurricane Katrina's displacement of thousands of Louisiana residents who were largely Democratic voters, including many black voters who make up much of the Democratic base for the party in Louisiana.

While the article focuses mostly on fundraising for federal candidates, quotes from founders Matt Debergalis and Ben Rahn try to shift the attention to where their greatest chance for impact lies: nationalizing downballot races. 

But Rahn and DeBergalis believe ActBlue's great potential lies in its ability to "nationalize" local races in the 23 states in which the PAC operates. They note that Congressional districts will be redrawn again in 2010. With state legislatures drawing those lines, they say, strategic donations to Democratic state legislative candidates could have a major impact on the fate of the national party.

"At that level, the relative impact is massive," DeBergalis said. "An entire class of novel ways to tackle political and social problems is sitting there waiting for that catalyst that we can bring."

While the quote is about legislative candidates and redistricting in 2010, ActBlue's first case study in nationalizing a downballot election came courtesy of the Secretary of State Project. Read about the SoS Project below from one of ActBlue's first blog postings and the only fundraising case study currently featured on their site   (note, we raised over $85,000 in checks making our total fundraising over $500,000.):

One of the initiatives we're most proud to have been part of in 2006 was the Secretary of State Project, which used ActBlue to raise $415,000 for seven Democratic candidates for Secretary of State in 2008 presidential battlegrounds.

 The result: Democratic victories in Ohio, Minnesota, New Mexico, Nevada, and Iowa, and with them hope for fair 2008 presidential elections in these states.  (One of the project's common refrains was "No more Ken Blackwells!")

The Secretary of State Project is a great example of how you can use ActBlue to bring national attention to local candidates. Normally, raising money for a down-ballot candidate in another state is a hard sell.  But by simultaneously fundraising for candidates across the country around a related theme, you create a national cause whose importance will be readily apparent to your prospective donors.

One of the innovations of the Secretary of State Project's use of ActBlue was how we were able to help people contribute money to Secretary of State candidates who were not in ActBlue enabled states. If anyone out there is interested in running a downballot campaign by using ActBlue to promote a national slate of local candidates feel free to hit us up to share our experience at secstateproject - at - gmail - dot - com.

And congratulations to ActBlue on much deserved recognition for the role it plays in funding our movement. 

encourages procrastination, discourages informed voting, and creates chaos for election workers - chaos that endangers the integrity of our elections

Not only that, but Johnson is currently serving as the state chair of Romney for President, taking a high profile partisan role in an election that he is charged with running impartially. For more about the increasing attention paid to Secretaries of State who play partisan politics see our earlier post "you can't be a player and a referee." 

McCulloch has pledged to defend Election Day Registration and make youth registration a priority. The
Great Falls Review article reports:

McCulloch said her priorities will be young voter participation, finding more election judges, heightening civics awareness, and forming citizen councils to "develop more effective ways to do the business of the office.''

She announced plans for a youth vote project, and pledged to request legislation in 2009 allowing state high school students to serve as election judges to combat a dearth of such officials.

"It's a win for the student, as well as for the elections process in Montana,'' McCulloch said.

It's worth noting that John Tester won his 2006 Senate race by only 3500 votes, and his winning vote count included many student ballots cast as a direct consequence of Election Day Registration rules. We'll be closely watching the Montana race as we make decisions about our 2008 targeting. If you are working on the McCulloch campaign or with any other potential democratic challengers in the Montana Secretary of State race, contact us at secstateproject - at - gmail  - dot - com.

We continue this work as opportunities arise to employ partisan
fundraising and independent expenditures in the service of election
transparency and reform.

There are three Secretary of State contests in 2007 - Kentucky,
Louisiana and Mississippi. Barring new developments, the Secretary of
State Project is declining to back candidates in these elections.

Why aren't we endorsing in 2007? The short explanation is simple. The
Secretary of State Project was founded in order to protect the election
in key presidential states. Voting rights abuses happen far and wide in
this country, but their impact is most intensely experienced in states
with close presidential races. That said, in an off year especially, a
Secretary of State race of national significance (such as Louisiana's
contest to decide who will hold the fate of voters displaced by Katrina)
would be of great interest.

Likewise, we would strongly consider entering a Secretary of State race
featuring a viable and forward-thinking reform candidate who put forth a
public platform including key movement ideas such as Election Day or
automatic registration, a vigorous opposition to voter ID laws, and a
visible campaign for election transparency including paper ballots.

So far, none of the 2007 races meets this criteria.

In Louisiana, the incumbent Republican Secretary of State is running
unopposed. The deadline for candidates to qualify for statewide office
is September 6. We are bitterly disappointed that a progressive
candidate willing to fight for the voting rights of those displaced by
Hurricane Katrina has not emerged in Louisiana.

In Kentucky, Bruce Hendrickson is the Democratic nominee. One of his top
issues is tougher voter ID laws. The movement to require voter ID at the
polls is rightwing legislative strategy aimed at suppressing the vote of
minorities, poor people and students. On the tails of a strong win by
gubernatorial candidate Steve Beshear, Hendrickson could be swept into
office. However, if reelected, the current Secretary of State -
Republican Trey Grayson - will be termed out in 2011, giving us the
opportunity to field a candidate who will protect the election for all
voters.

In Mississippi, it's less clear cut. John Windsor is the likely to
emerge from the state's August 7 primary as the Democratic nominee.
The candidate elected to Mississippi's open Secretary of State seat will
have to implement court-ordered mandatory party registration as well as
a new voter ID requirements. Unfortunately, none of the candidates
running in the Democratic primary is a proven progressive champion in
the mold of Minnesota's Mark Ritchie or Ohio's Jennifer Brunner.

As a result we have decided instead to focus our time and energy on
planning for the 2008 election cycle where our endorsements, campaign
dollars and volunteer efforts will have the greatest impact on electing
reform candidates to the office that controls how our votes are cast and
counted.

We will continue to monitor the 2007 races and will keep you updated on
key developments. We will also provide intelligence on 2008 races as
candidates declare for office and our targeting becomes established.

There are two states with open races for Secretary of State in 2008: Oregon and West Virginia. Three state senators are running for the democratic nomination in Oregon: Kate Brown, Vicki Walker, and Rick Metsger. The winner will be determined in the primary on May 20. West Virginia’s primary is May 13 and three candidates are vying for the democratic nomination: Billy Wayne Bailey, Joe DeLong, and Natalie Tennant

In two states there will be challenges to a sitting incumbent republican Secretary of State. In Montana, Democrat Linda McCulloch is trying to unseat ultra-conservative Brad Johnson. In Washington, candidates have until June 6 to file to take on Republican Sam Reed.

In Missouri, Democrat Robin Carnahan should easily win reelection to her chief election officer position. However, given the importance of a fair election in Missouri, we need to be vigilant in this state.

We are also looking to elect reform minded democrats in key counties of 2008 battleground states. Given the winner take all electoral college system, removing a Republican operative from running the election in two or three key counties could have a profound effect on the election. 

If you have suggestions for 2008 targeting email us at secstateproject - at - gmail - dot - com.