title: Georgia Secretary of State
text: # Georgia Secretary of State
  
  The Secretary of State of the U.S. state of Georgia is an elected official with a wide variety of responsibilities, including supervising elections and maintaining public records.
  
  The office has had a four-year term since 1946. Before 1880, the secretary of state was elected by the Georgia Assembly, not in a popular election.
  
  ## List of secretaries of state of Georgia
  
  | # | Name | Party | Took office | Left office |
  | - | - | - | - | - |
  | 1 | John Milton | | 1777 | 1799 |
  | 2 | Horatio Marbury | | 1799 | 1811 |
  | 3 | Abner Hammond | | 1811 | 1823 |
  | 4 | Everard Hamilton | | 1823 | 1833 |
  | 5 | William A. Tennille | | 1833 | 1843 |
  | 6 | Nathan Crawford Barnett | | 1843 | 1849 |
  | 7 | George Washington Harrison | | 1849 | 1851 |
  | 8 | Nathan Crawford Barnett | | 1851 | 1853 |
  | 9 | Elihu P. Watkins | | 1853 | 1861 |
  | 10 | Nathan Crawford Barnett | | 1861 | 1868 |
  | 11 | David G. Cotting | Republican | 1868 | 1873 |
  | 12 | Nathan Crawford Barnett | Democrat | 1873 | 1890 $^a$ |
  | 13 | Philip Cook, Sr. | Democrat | 1890 | 1894 $^a$ |
  | 14 | Allen D. Candler | Democrat | 1894 | 1898 |
  | 15 | William C. Clifton | | 1898 | 1898 |
  | 16 | Philip Cook, Jr. | Democrat | 1898 | 1918 $^a$ |
  | 17 | Henry Bascomb Strange | | 1918 | 1919 |
  | 18 | Samuel Guyton McLendon | | 1919 | 1928 $^a$ |
  | 19 | George Henry Carswell | Democrat | 1928 | 1931 |
  | 20 | John Bryan Wilson | Democrat | 1931 | 1946 $^a$ |
  | 21 | Benjamin W. Fortson, Jr. | Democrat | 1946 | 1979 $^a$ |
  | 22 | David Bryan Poythress | Democrat | 1979 | 1983 |
  | 23 | Joseph Maxwell Cleland | Democrat | 1983 | 1996 |
  | 24 | Lewis A. Massey | Democrat | 1996 | 1999 |
  | 25 | Lera Catharine Cox | Democrat | 1999 | 2007 |
  | 26 | Karen Handel | Republican | 2007 | 2010 |
  | 27 | Brian Kemp | Republican | 2010 | 2018 |
  | 28 | Robyn Crittenden | Republican | 2018 | 2019 |
  | 29 | Brad Raffensperger | Republican | 2019 | Incumbent |
  
  (a) Died in office
  
  