What is Jesse White (politician)?
{{for|the American actor who played the [[Maytag]] repairman|Jesse White (actor)}} {{Infobox Politician |image = Jesse White 2018.jpg |imagesize= 200 |name= Jesse White |order= 37th |office= Secretary of State of Illinois |term_start= January 11, 1999 |term_end=January 9, 2023 |governor= {{List collapsed|title=''See list''|1=[[George Ryan]]<br>[[Rod Blagojevich]]<br>[[Pat Quinn (politician)|Pat Quinn]]<br>[[Bruce Rauner]]<br>[[J. B. Pritzker]]}} |predecessor= [[George Ryan]] |successor=[[Alexi Giannoulias]] |birth_date= {{Birth date and age|1934|6|23|mf=y}} |birth_place= [[Alton, Illinois|Alton]], Illinois |party= [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] |alma_mater=[[Alabama State University]] |branch=[[United States Army]] [[Illinois National Guard]] |serviceyears=1957-1959 |battles=[[Vietnam War]] *[[101st Airborne Division]] }} '''Jesse Clark White''' (born June 23, 1934) is a [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] [[Americans|American]] [[politician]]. He served as the 37th and the longest serving [[Secretary of State of Illinois]] and the first [[African American]] to hold this position. He decided to retire in 2022 instead of running for a seventh term.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.wandtv.com/news/jesse-white-won-t-seek-re-election-in/article_fd3d38fe-bf79-11e9-ba34-6b25fc2783bf.html|title=Jesse White won't seek re-election in 2022|website=WAND-TV|language=en|access-date=2019-08-15}}</ref> ==Early life== White was born in [[Alton, Illinois|Alton]], Illinois on June 23, 1934. He attended [[Alabama State University]]. ==As Secretary of State== First elected to [[Secretary of State of Illinois]] in 1998, White was re-elected in 2002 by winning all 102 counties and garnering more than 2.3&nbsp;million votes, the largest vote total by any candidate for Illinois statewide office in a quarter of a century. In 2006, White was re-elected to a third term, having received 63 percent of the vote statewide.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.elections.state.il.us/ElectionInformation/GetVoteTotals.asp