Nina Mitchell Wells (born September 9, 1950) is an American attorney and politician who served as

Secretary of State of New Jersey The secretary of state of New Jersey oversees the Department of State, which is one of the original state offices. The Secretary is responsible for overseeing artistic, cultural, and historical programs within the U.S. state of New Jersey, as we ...

in the cabinet of

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Jon Corzine Jon Stevens Corzine ( ; born January 1, 1947) is an American financial executive and retired politician who served as a United States Senator from New Jersey from 2001 to 2006 and the 54th governor of New Jersey from 2006 to 2010. Corzine ran fo ...

Education

Wells was born in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, where she attended

Immaculate Conception Academy Immaculate Conception Academy, Dasmariñas (ICA Dasmariñas) is a private, nonsectarian educational institution in Dasmariñas, Philippines. It is owned and managed by the school board of directors. History Immaculate Conception Academy, In ...

. Wells began college at

Mount St. Joseph University The Mount St. Joseph University (The Mount) is a private university, private, Catholic church, Roman Catholic university in Delhi Township, Hamilton County, Ohio, Delhi, Ohio. It was founded in 1920 by the Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati. The ...

before graduating from

Newton College of the Sacred Heart Newton College of the Sacred Heart was a small women's liberal arts college in Newton Centre, Massachusetts. It opened in 1946 and merged with Boston College in June 1974. The college was highly regarded during its time, and in 1971 founded the ...

with a B.A. in 1972. Wells then received her

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

from

Suffolk University Law School Suffolk University Law School (also known as Suffolk Law School) is the private, non-sectarian law school of Suffolk University located in downtown Boston, Massachusetts, across the street from the Boston Common and the Freedom Trail, two block ...

in Boston, Massachusetts.

Career

Prior to assuming her cabinet post in January 2006, Wells served as a vice president at

Schering-Plough Schering-Plough Corporation was an American pharmaceutical company. It was originally the U.S. subsidiary of the German company Schering AG, which was founded in 1851 by Ernst Christian Friedrich Schering. As a result of nationalization, it becam ...

and assistant dean at

Rutgers Law School Rutgers Law School is the law school of Rutgers University, with classrooms in Newark and Camden, New Jersey. It is the largest public law school and the 10th largest law school, overall, in the United States. Each class in the three-year J.D. pr ...

. As Secretary of State, Wells served one four-year term, concurrent to the term of the governor. Her term expired on January 19, 2010. As Secretary, she was the state's chief elections officer and oversaw tourism, historical affairs, cultural and arts programs, Native American affairs, literacy, volunteerism, the state archives. In 2008, Wells was named as a defendant in the case ''

Donofrio v. Wells Numerous lawsuits and ballot challenges, based on conspiracy theories related to Barack Obama's eligibility for the United States presidency, were filed following his first election in 2008 and over the course of his two terms as president. These ...

'', an attempt to force her to stay the

presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The pre ...

in New Jersey pending investigations into the citizenship of

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

. The case was ultimately unsuccessful.

Personal life

She and her husband, criminal defense lawyer

Ted Wells Theodore V. "Ted" Wells, Jr. (born April 28, 1950) is an American lawyer who works in the field of criminal law. A litigation partner at the New York law firm of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, Wells has been selected by the Nationa ...

, reside in

Livingston, New Jersey Livingston is a township (New Jersey), township in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States census, 2010 U.S. census, the township's population was 29,366, reflecting an increase of 1,975 (+7.2%) from the ...

. Wells is a Democrat.

References

1950 births Living people People from Livingston, New Jersey Suffolk University Law School alumni Rutgers University faculty Secretaries of State of New Jersey New Jersey Democrats Newton College of the Sacred Heart alumni {{NewJersey-politician-stub