Colorado Secretary of State

	Colorado Secretary of State
	; ; ;
	General information
Office Type:	Partisan
Office website:	Official Link
Compensation:	$102,000
2025 FY Budget:	$46,513,310
Term limits:	2 consecutive terms
	Structure
Length of term:	4 years
Authority:	Colorado Constitution, Article IV, Section 1
Selection Method:	Elected
	Current Officeholder
	Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold; Democratic Party; Assumed office: January 8, 2019
	Elections
Next election:	November 3, 2026
Last election:	November 8, 2022
	Other Colorado Executive Offices
	Governor • Lieutenant Governor • Secretary of State • Attorney General • Treasurer • Controller • Commissioner of Education • Agriculture Commissioner • Insurance Commissioner • Natural Resources Exec. Director • Labor Executive Director • Public Utilities Commission • Colorado State Board of Regents

The Colorado Secretary of State is an elected constitutional officer in Colorado's state government. Elected every four years, the secretary of state manage's the state's elections, administers campaign finance laws, and oversees the registration of Colorado businesses, notaries, charities, and trade names.

Colorado has a Democratic triplex. The Democratic Party controls the offices of governor, secretary of state, and attorney general.

Current officeholder

The current Colorado Secretary of State is Jena Griswold (D). Griswold assumed office in 2019.

Authority

The state Constitution establishes the office of secretary of state in Article IV, the Executive Department.

Colorado Constitution, Article IV, Section 1

(1) The executive department shall include the governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, state treasurer, and attorney general, each of whom shall hold his office for the term of four years, commencing on the second Tuesday of January in the year 1967, and each fourth year thereafter. They shall perform such duties as are prescribed by this constitution or by law.

Qualifications

To serve as secretary of state, a person must:

Be at least 25 years old
Be a U.S. citizen
Been a resident of Colorado for at least two years.

Colorado Constitution, Article IV, Section 4

No person shall be eligible to the office of... attorney general unless he shall have attained the age of twentyfive years and be a licensed attorney of the supreme court of the state in good standing, and no person shall be eligible to any one of said offices unless, in addition to the qualifications above prescribed therefore, he shall be a citizen of the United States, and have resided within the limits of the state two years next preceding his election.

Elections

Colorado state government organizational chart

Secretaries of state are elected to four-year terms during federal midterm election years (2018, 2022, 2026, etc.). The candidate that earns a plurality of the votes is the winner, and, per Article IV, Section 1 of the state Constitution, assumes office on the second Tuesday of January in the year following the election.

Colorado Constitution, Article IV, Section 1

(1) The executive department shall include the governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, state treasurer, and attorney general, each of whom shall hold his office for the term of four years, commencing on the second Tuesday of January in the year 1967, and each fourth year thereafter.

2022

See also: Colorado Secretary of State election, 2022

General election

General election for Colorado Secretary of State

The following candidates ran in the general election for Colorado Secretary of State on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Jena Griswold (D)	55.1	1,369,040
		Pam Anderson (R)	42.1	1,045,482
		Bennett Rutledge (L)	1.5	36,485
	Submit photo	Amanda Campbell (American Constitution Party)	0.7	17,602
		Gary Swing (Unity Party)	0.5	11,458
		Jan Kok (Approval Voting Party)	0.2	4,591

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 2,484,658
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Jeff Orrok (Approval Voting Party)

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Colorado Secretary of State

Incumbent Jena Griswold advanced from the Democratic primary for Colorado Secretary of State on June 28, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Jena Griswold	100.0	510,462

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 510,462
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Colorado Secretary of State

Pam Anderson defeated Tina Peters and Mike O'Donnell in the Republican primary for Colorado Secretary of State on June 28, 2022.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Pam Anderson	43.1	268,638
	Tina Peters	28.9	180,059
	Mike O'Donnell	28.1	175,158

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 623,855
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

David Winney (R)

Approval Voting Party convention

Approval Voting Party convention for Colorado Secretary of State

Jeff Orrok advanced from the Approval Voting Party convention for Colorado Secretary of State on March 26, 2022.

		Candidate
✔	Submit photo	Jeff Orrok (Approval Voting Party)

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.