Secretary of State Project

Formed in the fall of 2006 by Becky Bond, Michael Kieschnick and James Rucker,[1] the Secretary of State Project was an American non-profit, progressive or liberal 527 political action committee focused on electing reform-minded progressive Secretaries of State in battleground states,[2] who typically oversee the election process. They hoped to prevent a repeat of Florida 2000, where the projects backers claimed that a Republican Secretary of State, Katherine Harris, took a partisan role in helping to determine the 2000 presidential election results.[1] The Project was funded by George Soros and members of the Democracy Alliance including Gail Furman, John R. Hunting; Paul Rudd; Pat Stryker; Nicholas Hanauer; Rob Stein; Drummond Pike; Robert Bowditch; Scott Wallace; Susie Tompkins Buell; Albert Dwoskin; and Rob McKay.[3]

Secretary of State Project
Formation2006

A notable achievement of the Secretary of State Project was the election of Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie in 2006. Ritchie played a pivotal role in adjudicating the 2008 Senate race between Al Franken and Norm Coleman, by examining disputed absentee ballots during the Minnesota Senate recount.[4]

In 2010 during the midterm election GOP wave, the PAC was run by Laura Packard. 2 of 7 candidates were re-elected (California Secretary of State Debra Bowen and Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie). After 2010, the Project had disappeared.[5]

References
  1. "Secretaries of state give Dem firewall" Politico article, November 2, 2008.
  2. "Top vote counter becomes prize job" USA Today article, August 17, 2006.
  3. Neubauer, Chuck (June 23, 2011). "Soros and liberal groups seeking top election posts in battleground states". Washington Times.
  4. "A recount to make Minnesota proud" Mark Ritchie's op ed, Minnesota Public Radio, July 7, 2009.
  5. "Amid voter I.D. battle, Democrats launch PAC for Secretary of State races", Washington Post, Aaron Blake, December 12, 2013. Retrieved 3 September 2014.


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