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Secretary of State of New Jersey
Incumbent Tahesha Way since 2018
Department of State
Type	Secretary of State
Formation	1776
First holder	Charles Pettit

The secretary of state of New Jersey oversees the Department of State, which is one of the original state offices. The Secretary is responsible for overseeing artistic, cultural, and historical programs within the U.S. state of New Jersey, as well as volunteerism and community service projects within the state and is also the keeper of the Great Seal of the State. The Secretary is appointed by the Governor.

The department's agencies include the State Archives, the New Jersey State Museum, the Division of Elections, the Division of Programs, the Business Action Center, the Council on the Arts, the Historical Commission, the Cultural Based Initiatives, the Center for Hispanic Research and Development, the Office for Planning Advocacy and the State Planning Commission. The Secretary of Higher Education, the Higher Education Student Assistance Authority, the State Library and the Sports and Exposition Authority are in but not of the department.

The New Jersey Division of Archives and Records Management, sometimes referred to simply as the "State Archives", is the repository for all vital statistics, including marriage and divorce records and birth certificates, and also maintains a separate set of files for the registry of wills. The Secretary of State oversees the Division of Tourism which advertises and promotes New Jersey as a premier travel destination and the Division of Elections, and sets all tourism and election policy.

The Secretary is the Chief Elections Officer of New Jersey. Prior to April 1, 2008, the electoral division was under the New Jersey Attorney General. The Secretary of State is also the chair of the board of State Canvasser, which certifies election results for federal and state office elections and public questions.

In New Jersey, registry of corporations is not the responsibility of the Secretary of State. The New Jersey Department of the Treasury is responsible for the maintenance of corporate records.

In New Jersey, the Secretary of State serves a term of office concurrent with that of the Governor. Although the conventional wisdom is that the Secretary of State cannot be removed from office except "for cause" by the Governor or by way of legislative impeachment, a recent law review article argues that the Governor does not have the authority to remove the Secretary of State "for cause," and this issue has not been tested.

The current Secretary of State is Tahesha Way.

List of officeholders

Holders of the office of Secretary of State include:

#	Image	Secretary of State	Term	Governor	Party
1		Charles Pettit	1776–1779	William Livingston
2		Bowes Reed	1778–1794
3		Samuel W. Stockton	1794–1795	Richard Howell
4		John Beatty	1795–1805
5		James Linn	1805–1820		Democratic Republican
6		Daniel Coleman	1820–1830
7		James Westcott	1830–1840
8		Charles McChesney	1840–1851
9		Thomas Allison	1851–1861
10		Whitfield Johnson	1861–1866
11		Horace Congar	1866–1870
12		Henry Kelsey	1870–1897
13		George Wurts	1897–1902
14		Samuel Dickinson	1902–1912
15		David Crater	1912–1915	Woodrow Wilson
16		Thomas Martin	1915–1926
17		Joseph Fitzpatrick	1926–1931	A. Harry Moore (1926–1929) Morgan Foster Larson (1929–1931)
18		Thomas A. Mathis	1931–1941	Morgan Foster Larson (1931–1932) A. Harry Moore (1931–1935) Harold G. Hoffman (1935–1938) A. Harry Moore (1938–1941)	Republican
19		Joseph Brophy	1941–1946	Charles Edison (1941–1944) Walter F. Edge (1944–1947)
20		Lloyd B. Marsh	1946–1954	Walter F. Edge Alfred E. Driscoll (1947–1953)	Republican
21		Edward J. Patten	1954–1962	Robert B. Meyner (1954–1962)	Democratic
22		Robert J. Burkhardt	1962–1970	Richard J. Hughes (1962–1970)	Democratic
23		Paul Sherwin	1970–1972	William T. Cahill (1970–1974)	Republican
Acting		Robert Falcey	1972–1974	William T. Cahill
24		J. Edward Crabiel	1974–1977	Brendan Byrne	Democratic
Acting		Francis Carragher	1977	Brendan Byrne	Democratic
Acting		George Lee	1977	Brendan Byrne	Democratic
25		Donald Lan	1977–1982	Brendan Byrne	Democratic
26		Jane Burgio	1982–1990	Thomas Kean (1982–1990)	Republican
27		Joan Haberle	1990–1992	James Florio (1990–94)	Democratic
28		Daniel Dalton	1992–1994	James Florio	Democratic
29		Lonna Hooks	1994–1998	Christine Todd Whitman (1994–2001)	Republican
Acting		Carol Cronheim	1998–1999	Christine Todd Whitman	Republican
30		DeForest Soaries	1999–2002	Christine Todd Whitman Donald DiFrancesco (2001–2002)	Republican
31		Regena Thomas	2002–2006	James E. McGreevey (2002–2004) Richard Codey (2004–2006)	Democratic
32		Nina Mitchell Wells	2006–2010	Jon S. Corzine (2006–2010)	Democratic
33		Kim Guadagno	2010–2018	Chris Christie (2010–2018)	Republican
34		Tahesha Way	2018–present	Phil Murphy (2018–present)	Democratic

External links

• Official website of the New Jersey Department of State
• New Jersey Division of Elections website
• Official website of the New Jersey Department of Archives and Records Management
• New Jersey State Museum website

References

1. Division of Elections transfer of authority
2. New Jersey State Legislative Manual 2013
3. New Jersey State Constitution Art V, Sec 4
4. Letter from OLS Deputy Counsel Danielle A. Brucchieri to Senate Republican Office, Office of Legislative Services, May 9, 2005. Accessed December 2, 2008.
5. Eric R. Daleo, "The Scope and Limits of the New Jersey Governor's Authority to Remove the Attorney General and Others 'For Cause'" Archived July 23, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, Rutgers Law Journal, Vol. 39, Issue 2, page 393, 2008. Accessed December 2, 2008.
6. Gribbins, J. Joseph (1971). Manual of the Legislature of New Jersey. Trenton, N. J. p. 217.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
7. Christie to tap lieutenant governor-elect as secretary of state
8. Christie taps lieutenant governor for double duty as secretary of state

• Secretaries of state of New Jersey