2018 Secretary of State’s Race

The Secretary of State oversees elections in Colorado, keeping a database on election results, voter registrations, and campaign finance disclosures. An early issue that came up in the race was President Donald Trump’s Commission on Election Integrity, which prompted 3,189 voters to unregister and hundreds more to make their information confidential in order to prevent their information from ending up in the hands of the Trump administration. But the commission has been disbanded. Now, the issue could turn to how the state discloses campaign contributions; the state keeps an electronic database, TRACER, but it’s known for creating discrepancies between what candidates report and what appears in aggregate summaries.

 

Democrats

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Jena Griswold, a business owner and lawyer, worked on President Barack Obama’s campaign as a voter protection attorney in 2012. She was a vocal critic of President Donald Trump’s now-defunct Commission on Election Integrity. Her website states that she “plans to build a more transparent government by making it easier to see dark money’s role in our elections and by supporting a law to require presidential candidates to release their tax returns to get on the Colorado ballot.”

Gabriel McArthur, a former Bernie Sanders delegate, told Westword he took issue with Wayne Williams’ decision to give President Trump voter registration information. He does not have a website yet.

Democrat Phillip Villard says on his website that he wants to improve voter information and election integrity, create a resource to help businesses prosper, and protect farmers and working-class families.

 

Republican

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Wayne W. Williams was elected as Secretary of State in 2014. Prior to serving, Williams was El Paso County clerk, where he worked through the Waldo Canyon fire that forced residents to evacuate during the 2012 primaries.