List of secretaries of state of Wisconsin

The secretary of state of Wisconsin is an officer of the executive branch of the government of the U.S. state of Wisconsin^[1] and the second in the order of succession of the governor of Wisconsin, behind the lieutenant governor.^[2] The secretary of state is responsible for keeping records of the official acts of the legislative and executive branches of Wisconsin's government and affixing the Great Seal of the State of Wisconsin to the official acts of the governor.^[1]

Number of secretaries of state of Wisconsin by party affiliation^{[note 1]}

Party		Secretaries
	Republican	20
	Democratic	11
	Progressive	1

As second in the order of succession to Wisconsin's governorship, the secretary of state becomes governor if the governor dies, resigns or is removed from office while the lieutenant governorship is vacant; prior to a 1979 amendment to the Wisconsin Constitution, however, the secretary simply became acting governor if any of these events were to occur.^[2] No secretary of state has ever ascended to the governorship or acting-governorship under such circumstances.^[3] Both before and after the 1979 amendment, the secretary becomes acting governor while the governor is absent from the state, impeached or incapacitated in the absence of a lieutenant governor.^[2] Some secretaries of state have acted as governor for short periods of time under such circumstances.^[4]

Under the original terms of the state constitution, the secretary of state was elected for a two-year term on a separate ticket from the governor or any other official. A 1967 amendment increased the term of the secretary of state, as well as those of other state officials, to four years. There is no limit to the number of terms a secretary of state may hold.^[2] In the event of the death, resignation or removal from office of the secretary of state, the governor may appoint someone to fill the vacancy.^[5]

Twenty-eight individuals have held the office of secretary of state since Wisconsin's admission to the Union in 1848, two of whom—Fred Zimmerman and Douglas La Follette—served for non-consecutive terms. The first secretary of state was Thomas McHugh, who took office on June 7, 1848. The current secretary is Sarah Godlewski, who took office on March 17, 2023; her current term expires in 2027.^[3][6]

Secretaries of state

Secretaries of Wisconsin Territory

From 1836 until 1848, what is now Wisconsin was part of Wisconsin Territory.^[7] The Organic Act which created the territory provided for the office of a secretary, to be appointed by the president,^[1] whose duties consisted of recording the proceedings of the territory's legislature, and the laws it produced, as well as the proceedings of the territorial governor. Additionally, in the event of the inability of the governor to serve—due to death or various other circumstances—the secretary was to assume the governor's powers and carry out his duties.^[8]

Wisconsin Territory was formed on July 3, 1836.^[7] During the time of its existence, it had six territorial secretaries.^[9]

#	Image	Name	Appointed[10]	Left office[note 2]	Territorial Governor	Appointed by
1		John S. Horner	April 30, 1836	February 16, 1837	Henry Dodge	Andrew Jackson
2		William B. Slaughter	February 16, 1837	January 25, 1841
3		Francis J. Dunn	January 25, 1841	April 23, 1841		Martin Van Buren
4		Alexander Pope Field	April 23, 1841	October 30, 1843		John Tyler
					James Doty
5		George R. C. Floyd	October 30, 1843	February 24, 1846
					Nathaniel Tallmadge
					Henry Dodge
6		John Catlin	February 24, 1846	March 3, 1849[note 3]		James Polk

Secretaries of state of Wisconsin

Wisconsin was admitted to the Union on May 29, 1848. Since then, it has had 29 secretaries of state, two of whom served non-consecutive terms.^[3]

  Democratic   Whig   Republican   Progressive   Changed party

#	Image	Name	Party	Took office	Left office[note 4]	Governor	Terms[note 5]
1		Thomas McHugh	Democratic	June 7, 1848[12]	January 7, 1850	Nelson Dewey	1
2		William A. Barstow	Democratic	January 7, 1850[12]	January 5, 1852	Nelson Dewey	1
3		Charles D. Robinson	Democratic	January 5, 1852[12]	January 2, 1854	Leonard Farwell	1
4		Alexander T. Gray	Democratic	January 2, 1854[12]	January 7, 1856	William Barstow	1
5		David W. Jones	Democratic	January 7, 1856[12]	January 2, 1860	William Barstow	2
						Arthur MacArthur, Sr.
						Coles Bashford
						Alexander Randall
6		Louis P. Harvey[note 6]	Republican	January 2, 1860[12]	January 6, 1862	Alexander Randall	1
7		James T. Lewis	Republican	January 6, 1862[12]	January 4, 1864	Louis Harvey	1
						Edward Salomon
8		Lucius Fairchild	Republican	January 4, 1864[12]	January 1, 1866	James Lewis	1
9		Thomas S. Allen	Republican	January 1, 1866[12]	January 3, 1870	Lucius Fairchild	2
10		Llywelyn Breese	Republican	January 3, 1870[12]	January 5, 1874	Lucius Fairchild	2
						Cadwallader Washburn
11		Peter Doyle	Democratic	January 5, 1874[12]	January 7, 1878	William Taylor	2
						Harrison Ludington
12		Hans B. Warner	Republican	January 7, 1878[12]	January 2, 1882	William Smith	2
13		Ernst G. Timme	Republican	January 2, 1882[12]	January 5, 1891	Jeremiah Rusk	4[note 7]
						William Hoard
14		Thomas J. Cunningham	Democratic	January 5, 1891[12]	January 7, 1895	George Peck	2
15		Henry Casson	Republican	January 7, 1895[12]	January 2, 1899	William Upham	2
						Edward Scofield
16		William H. Froehlich	Republican	January 2, 1899[12]	January 5, 1903	Edward Scofield	2
						Robert La Follette, Sr.
17		Walter L. Houser	Republican	January 5, 1903[12]	January 7, 1907	Robert La Follette, Sr.	2
						James Davidson
18		James A. Frear	Republican	January 7, 1907[12]	January 6, 1913	James Davidson	3
						Francis McGovern
19		John S. Donald	Republican	January 6, 1913[12]	January 1, 1917	Francis McGovern	2
						Emanuel Philipp
20		Merlin Hull	Republican	January 1, 1917[12]	January 3, 1921	Emanuel Philipp	2
21		Elmer S. Hall	Republican	January 3, 1921[12]	January 1, 1923	John Blaine	1
22		Fred R. Zimmerman	Republican	January 1, 1923[12]	January 3, 1927	John Blaine	2
23		Theodore Dammann	Republican	January 3, 1927[12]	January 7, 1935	Fred Zimmerman	4
						Walter Kohler, Sr.
						Philip La Follette
						Albert Schmedeman
		Theodore Dammann	Progressive	January 7, 1935[14]	January 2, 1939	Philip La Follette	2
24		Fred R. Zimmerman	Republican	January 2, 1939[15]	December 14, 1954[3]	Julius Heil	71⁄3[note 8]
						Walter Goodland
						Oscar Rennebohm
						Walter Kohler, Jr.
vacant				December 14, 1954	December 16, 1954	Walter Kohler, Jr.	1⁄3[note 9]
25		Louis Allis	Republican	December 16, 1954[3]	January 3, 1955	Walter Kohler, Jr.	1⁄3[note 10]
26		Glenn M. Wise	Republican	January 3, 1955[3]	January 7, 1957	Walter Kohler, Jr.	1[note 11]
27		Robert C. Zimmerman	Republican	January 7, 1957[16]	January 6, 1975	Vernon Thomson	8[note 12]
						Gaylord Nelson
						John Reynolds
						Warren Knowles
						Patrick Lucey
28		Douglas J. La Follette	Democratic	January 6, 1975[17]	January 3, 1979	Patrick Lucey	1
						Martin Schreiber
29		Vel R. Phillips	Democratic	January 3, 1979[18]	January 3, 1983	Lee Dreyfus	1
30		Douglas J. La Follette	Democratic	January 3, 1983[19]	March 17, 2023	Tony Earl	11[note 13]
						Tommy Thompson
						Scott McCallum
						Jim Doyle
						Scott Walker
						Tony Evers
31		Sarah Godlewski	Democratic	March 17, 2023	Incumbent[20]	Tony Evers	1 [note 14]

Notes

1. Wisconsin has had 29 secretaries of state. Two served non-consecutive terms, and are thus counted twice in this table. Theodore Dammann changed his party and is therefore counted twice also.
2. When there is no evidence to the contrary, it is assumed that territorial secretaries left office the same day their successors were appointed.
3. Wisconsin became a state on May 29, 1848; however, portions of the territory which are now part of Minnesota were not included in the state; some were of the opinion that this area continued to be Wisconsin Territory. Henry Dodge took his seat as a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin on June 23, 1848, thus precluding the possibility that he continued to be the Territorial Governor. John Catlin therefore declared that, as Secretary, he was the acting governor of Wisconsin Territory, an office he exercised until the organization of Minnesota Territory on March 3, 1849.^[11]
4. When there is no evidence to the contrary, it is assumed that secretaries of state left office the same day their successors were sworn in.
5. The fractional terms of some secretaries of state are not to be understood absolutely literally; rather, they are meant to show single terms during which multiple secretaries served due to death.
6. Earlier editions of the Wisconsin Blue Books refer to the sixth secretary of state as "Louis P. Harvey"^[12] and make it clear that he and "Louis Powell Harvey", the seventh governor of the state, are the same man.^[13] More recent editions, however, refer to the seventh governor as "Louis Powell Harvey" and the sixth secretary of state as "Lewis P. Harvey".^[3]
7. During Timme's first term, the Wisconsin Constitution was amended to say that all elections of state and county officers would henceforth take place in even-numbered years. By the provisions of the amendment, the terms of all officials who would have left office in 1884, including Timme, were extended by one year.
8. Died in office.
9. Vacant due to death of secretary of state.
10. Appointed to fill vacancy.
11. Before his death, Fred Zimmerman was elected to a ninth term as secretary of state, to last from 1955 until 1957. Wise was appointed to fill this term.^[3]
12. As per a 1967 amendment to the Wisconsin Constitution, Zimmerman's eighth term, beginning in 1971, was the first to last for 4 years
13. La Follette resigned on March 17, 2023, cutting his eleventh term short.
14. Appointed to serve the remainder of La Follette's eleventh term following his resignation.

Other high offices held

This is a table of governorships, lieutenant governorships, congressional seats, and ranking diplomatic positions in foreign countries held by former Wisconsin secretaries of state.

Name	Term	Other offices held
William Barstow	1850–1852	Governor of Wisconsin[3]
Louis Harvey	1860–1862	Governor of Wisconsin[3]
James Lewis	1862–1864	Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin; Governor of Wisconsin[3]
Lucius Fairchild	1864–1866	Governor of Wisconsin;[3] Minister to Spain[21]
James Frear	1907–1913	Representative from Wisconsin[22]
Merlin Hull	1917–1921	Representative from Wisconsin[23]
Fred Zimmerman	1923–1927 1939–1954	Governor of Wisconsin[3]

References

1. Barish, Lawrence S., ed. (2007). "Chapter 6: Executive Branch". State of Wisconsin Blue Book 2007–2008 (PDF). Madison, Wisconsin: Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. pp. 508–509. ISBN 978-0-9752820-2-1. Archived from the original on 2011-08-11. Retrieved 2008-05-10.
2. Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau, ed. (2007). "Wisconsin Constitution (Article V)" (PDF). State of Wisconsin 2007–2008 Blue Book. Madison: Wisconsin Legislature Joint Committee on Legislative Organization. p. 214.
3. Barish, Lawrence S., ed. (2007). "Chapter 8: Statistical Information on Wisconsin". State of Wisconsin Blue Book 2007–2008 (PDF). Madison, Wisconsin: Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. pp. 720–723. ISBN 978-0-9752820-2-1. Archived from the original on 2011-08-11. Retrieved 2008-02-29.
4. "Vel Phillips". Topics in Wisconsin History. Wisconsin Historical Society. Retrieved 2010-04-20. During the absence of both the governor and lieutenant governor, [Secretary of State] Phillips served as acting governor, though only briefly....
5. Barish, Lawrence S., ed. (2007). "Chapter 3: Wisconsin Constitution (Article XIII)". State of Wisconsin Blue Book 2007–2008 (PDF). Madison, Wisconsin: Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. pp. 234–235. ISBN 978-0-9752820-2-1. Retrieved 2010-04-19.^{[permanent dead link]}
6. "Secretary of State Doug La Follette to retire, Gov. Tony Evers appoints Sarah Godlewski to post". Journal Sentinel. Retrieved 2023-03-17.
7. Barish, Lawrence S., ed. (2007). "Chapter 8: Statistical Information on Wisconsin". State of Wisconsin Blue Book 2007–2008 (PDF). Madison, Wisconsin: Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. p. 692–693. ISBN 978-0-9752820-2-1. Archived from the original on 2011-08-11. Retrieved 2010-04-20.
8. Tuttle, Charles Richard (1875). An Illustrated History of the State of Wisconsin. Boston, Massachusetts: B. B. Russell. p. 189. Retrieved 2008-02-24.
9. Manual for the use of the assembly, of the state of Wisconsin, for the year 1853. Madison, Wisconsin: Brown and Carpenter, Printers. 1853. p. 118. Retrieved 2008-02-24.
10. The History of Racine and Kenosha Counties, Wisconsin. Racine County, Wisconsin: Western Historical Company. 1879. pp. 42–52. Retrieved 2008-02-24.
11. The History of Racine and Kenosha Counties, Wisconsin. Racine County, Wisconsin: Western Historical Company. 1879. pp. 55–56. Retrieved 2008-02-24.
12. Anderson, William J. (1929). William A. Anderson (ed.). The Wisconsin blue book, 1929. Madison, Wisconsin: Democrat Printing Company. p. 144. Retrieved 2008-03-01.
13. Toepel, M. G.; Hazel L. Kuehn, eds. (1960). "Wisconsin's former governors, 1848–1949". The Wisconsin Blue Book, 1960. Madison, Wisconsin: The Wisconsin Legislative Reference Library. p. 97. Retrieved 2008-03-07.
14. "LA FOLLETTE BEGINS ANOTHER TERM" (PDF). The Oshkosh Northwestern. January 7, 1935. p. 1. Retrieved 2008-03-01.
15. "Heil Becomes Wisconsin Governor" (PDF). The La Crosse Tribune and Leader-Press. January 2, 1939. p. 1. Retrieved 2008-03-01.
16. "Badger Governor Takes His Oath Of Office Today" (PDF). Ironwood Daily Globe. January 7, 1957. p. 10. Retrieved 2008-03-06.
17. Christofferson, W. L (January 6, 1975). "Inaugurations Today" (PDF). Wisconsin State Journal. p. 4. Retrieved 2008-03-06.
18. "Inaugural Caps Dreyfus Miracle" (PDF). Ironwood Daily Globe. Ironwood, Michigan. January 4, 1979. p. 3. Retrieved 2008-03-06.
19. "Earl discusses financial crunch" (PDF). Ironwood Daily Globe. Ironwood, Michigan. January 4, 1983. p. 11. Retrieved 2010-04-21.
20. Johnson, Shawn (2023-03-17). "Longtime Secretary of State Doug La Follette retires, to be replaced by former Treasurer Sarah Godlewski". Wisconsin Public Radio. Retrieved 2023-03-18.
21. "Governor Lucius Fairchild". National Governors Association. Retrieved December 27, 2017.
22. "FREAR, James Archibald". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved 2008-08-28.
23. "HULL, Merlin". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved 2008-08-28.