The North Dakota secretary of state is an elected office in the U.S. state of North Dakota. The incumbent as of 2023 was Michael Howe. Duties of the secretary of state include being the custodian of the state's Great Seal and other official state documents, recording the official acts of the governor, distributing copies of legislative resolutions, and recording original bills and resolutions from each biennial Legislative Assembly. Other duties of the office include those pertaining to statewide elections, licensing within the state, and recording trademarks. The secretary of state is second (behind the lieutenant governor) in the line of succession to the office of Governor of North Dakota.[1]
History
From the creation of the office with the state's constitution in 1889, to 2015 there had been 13 secretaries of state, the least number among any of the state offices created in that year. This is attributed to the 34-year tenure of Ben Meier, which as of 2015 was the longest of any state-level secretary of state in the US. As of 2015 the office had been held by the North Dakota Republican Party at all times except the period 1989 to 1992, when the state's Democratic Party was in office. The secretary of state originally served a two-year term, but this was extended to four in 1964 by a constitutional amendment.
List of secretaries of state
The following is a list of secretaries of state of North Dakota.[2]
| Party | Secretaries |
|---|---|
| Republican | 14 |
| Democratic-NPL | 1 |
| # | Image | Name | Term | Party |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | John Flittie | 1889–1892 | Republican | |
| 2 | Christian M. Dahl | 1893–1896 | Republican | |
| 3 |  |
Fred Falley | 1897–1900 | Republican |
| 4 | Edward F. Porter | 1901–1906 | Republican | |
| 5 | Alfred Blaisdell | 1907–1910 | Republican | |
| 6 |  |
Patrick D. Norton | 1911–1912 | Republican |
| 7 |  |
Thomas Hall | 1913–1924 | Republican/NPL |
| 8 | Robert Byrne | 1925–1934 | Republican | |
| 9 | James D. Gronna | 1935–1940 | Republican/NPL | |
| 10 |  |
Herman Thorson | 1941–1942 | Republican |
| 11 | |
Thomas Hall | 1943–1954 | Republican |
| 12 | Ben Meier | 1955–1988 | Republican | |
| 13 | Jim Kusler | 1989–1992 | Democratic-NPL | |
| 14 |  |
Alvin Jaeger | 1993–2023 | Republican |
| 15 | Michael Howe | 2023–present | Republican |
See also
References
- ^ "Constitution of North Dakota" (PDF). North Dakota Legislative Assembly. Retrieved August 22, 2019.
- ^ North Dakota Secretary of State | About the Secretary of State
