Michael Gene Adams (born March 27, 1976) is an American politician who is a member of the Republican Party. He is the secretary of state of the

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

. He succeeded

Alison Lundergan Grimes Alison Case Lundergan Grimes (born November 23, 1978) is an American lawyer and Democratic politician who was the secretary of state of Kentucky from 2012 until 2020. Grimes was elected in 2011 after defeating incumbent Elaine Walker in the De ...

on January 6, 2020.

Early life and career

Adams is from

Paducah, Kentucky Paducah ( ) is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of McCracken County, Kentucky. The largest city in the Jackson Purchase region, it is located at the confluence of the Tennessee and the Ohio rivers, halfway between St. Louis, Missour ...

. He graduated from Reidland High School, the

University of Louisville The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public research university in Louisville, Kentucky. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one of ...

, and

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

. Adams was the first in his family to get a bachelor's degree and attended Harvard Law School on low-income aid. After law school, Adams served as a judicial law clerk for Chief Judge

John G. Heyburn II John Gilpin Heyburn II (November 12, 1948 – April 29, 2015) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky. Heyburn served as the Chief Judge of the Court between 2001 and 2008. Earl ...

, of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky. He worked for

Mitch McConnell Addison Mitchell McConnell III (born February 20, 1942) is an American politician and retired attorney serving as the senior United States senator from Kentucky and the Senate minority leader since 2021. Currently in his seventh term, McConne ...

and

Ernie Fletcher Ernest Lee Fletcher (born November 12, 1952) is an American physician and politician. In 1998, he was elected to the first of three consecutive terms in the United States House of Representatives; he resigned in 2003 after being elected the 60th ...

before becoming counsel to the

deputy attorney general of the United States The United States deputy attorney general is the second-highest-ranking official in the United States Department of Justice and oversees the day-to-day operation of the Department. The deputy attorney general acts as attorney general during the ...

during the second term of President George W. Bush. After the Bush administration, Adams served as general counsel to the

Republican Governors Association The Republican Governors Association (RGA) is a Washington, D.C.-based 527 organization founded in 1961, consisting of U.S. state and territorial Republican governors. The Republican Governors Association is dedicated to one primary objective: ele ...

, before working in election law. He served as

Mike Pence Michael Richard Pence (born June 7, 1959) is an American politician who served as the 48th vice president of the United States from 2017 to 2021 under President Donald Trump. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the 50th ...

's political law attorney. Adams served as the campaign attorney for

Eric Greitens Eric Robert Greitens (; born April 10, 1974) is a former American politician who was the 56th governor of Missouri from January 2017 until his resignation in June 2018 amid allegations of sexual assault and campaign finance impropriety. Born a ...

Kentucky Secretary of State

2019 election

In the

2019 Kentucky elections A general election was held in the U.S. state of Kentucky on November 5, 2019, with all executive offices in the state up for election. Primary elections were held on May 21, 2019. Governor and Lieutenant Governor The 2019 Kentucky gubernatori ...

, Adams ran for

Secretary of State of Kentucky The secretary of state of Kentucky is one of the constitutional officers of the U.S. state of Kentucky. It is now an elected office, but was an appointed office prior to 1891. The current secretary of state is Republican Michael Adams, who was e ...

as a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

. He defeated former Kentucky Second Lady

Heather French Henry Heather Renee French Henry (born December 29, 1974) is a Miss America title holder, fashion designer, and veterans advocate. She is married to former Kentucky Lieutenant Governor Steve Henry. Biography Raised in Augusta, Kentucky, Heather Fre ...

in the general election on November 5. Results

Tenure

Adams' highest legislative priority in his campaign was changing state law to require photo identification of voters. On April 14, 2020, in the midst of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, the

Kentucky General Assembly The Kentucky General Assembly, also called the Kentucky Legislature, is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Kentucky. It comprises the Kentucky Senate and the Kentucky House of Representatives. The General Assembly meets annually in the ...

passed a Voter ID law over Governor Beshear's veto. During the 2020 General Election, Adams implemented expanded procedures giving voters in Kentucky options to safely cast votes during the

which included excuse-free absentee voting and three weeks of open polls. Adams' plan for the 2020 elections resulted in record voter turnout in Kentucky and received praise as a national model for how to conduct elections during a health pandemic. In the 2021 legislative session, Adams led an effort to make several of the election reforms permanent. The legislation garnered bipartisan support, and Governor Beshear signed it into law on April 7, 2021. The election reform measure includes 3 days of early in-person voting, transitions the state toward universal paper ballots, keeps the online portal for requesting absentee ballots, and allows counties to establish vote centers.

References

External links

Office of Kentucky Secretary of State Michael Adams
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Adams, Michael 21st-century American lawyers 21st-century American politicians George W. Bush administration personnel Harvard Law School alumni Kentucky lawyers Kentucky Republicans Living people People from Paducah, Kentucky Secretaries of State of Kentucky University of Louisville alumni 1976 births