Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts

Template:Short descriptionTemplate:Use mdy dates The secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a constitutional officer in the executive branch of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Originally appointed under authority of the English Crown pursuant to the Charter of the Massachusetts Bay Company, the office of secretary of the Commonwealth (equivalent to "secretaries of state" in other U.S. jurisdictions) became an elective one in 1780.Template:Efn Twenty-seven individuals have occupied the office of secretary of the Commonwealth over the ensuing centuries. The incumbent is William F. Galvin, a Democrat who has held the office since 1995.

Election

Term of office

The secretary of the Commonwealth is elected by the people on Election Day in November to four-year terms, and takes office on the third Wednesday of the January following a general election. There is no limit to the number of terms a secretary may hold. Institutionally speaking, the secretary of the Commonwealth is thus completely independent of both the governor and General Court for the purpose of performing their official duties. These constitutional protections notwithstanding, the secretary may still be impeached for misconduct or maladministration by the House of Representatives and, if found guilty, removed from office by the Senate.

Qualifications

Any person seeking election to the office of secretary of the Commonwealth must meet the following requirements:

1. Be at least eighteen years of age;
2. Be a registered voter in Massachusetts;
3. Be a Massachusetts resident for at least five years when elected; and
4. Receive 5,000 signatures from registered voters on nomination papers.

Vacancies

In the event of a vacancy in the office of secretary of the Commonwealth, the General Court is charged, if in session, with electing from among the eligible citizens of the Commonwealth a successor to serve the balance of the prior secretary's term in office.Template:Efn If, however, the vacancy occurs while the General Court is not in session, then responsibility for appointing a successor falls to the governor. The appointment is not valid without the advice and consent of the Governor's Council.

Powers and duties

The Secretary of the Commonwealth oversees the Corporations Division, the Elections Division, the Massachusetts Archives, the Massachusetts Historical Commission, the Public Records Division, the Securities Division, as well as the State Records Center.

List of secretaries of the Commonwealth (1780 to present)

No.	Secretary of the Commonwealth		Party	Years	Electoral/appointed history
1	File:John Avery, Jr..png	John Avery, Jr.	Pro-Administration/Federalist	January 1, 1780 – June 7, 1806	Succeeded Samuel Adams, who had been Secretary of the Province of Massachusetts Bay from August 15, 1776, until January 1, 1780. Avery died in office, June 7, 1806.
2		Jonathan L. Austin	Democratic-Republican	1806 – 1808	Template:Dm
3	File:William Tudor TJAG.jpeg	William Tudor	Federalist	1808 – 1810	Template:Dm
4		Benjamin Homans	Democratic-Republican	1810 – 1812	Template:Dm
5	File:Chester Harding - Alden Bradford.jpg	Alden Bradford	Federalist/National Republican	1812 – 1824	Template:Dm
6	File:EDWARD DILLINGHAM BANGS (1790-1838).jpg	Edward D. Bangs	style="background-color:Template:Party color" | National Republican/Whig	1824 – 1836	Template:Dm
7	File:Mayor JP Bigelow.png	John P. Bigelow	style="background-color:Template:Party color" | Whig	1836 – 1843	Template:Dm
8		John A. Bolles	style="background-color:Template:Party color" | Whig	1843 – 1844	Template:Dm
9	File:John Gorham Palfrey.jpg	John G. Palfrey	style="background-color:Template:Party color" | Whig	1844 – 1848	Template:Dm
10	File:William Barron Calhoun.png	William B. Calhoun	style="background-color:Template:Party color" | Whig	January 1848 – 1851	Template:Dm
11	File:Amasa Walker.png	Amasa Walker	style="background-color:Template:Party color" | Whig	1851 – 1853	Template:Dm
12		Ephraim M. Wright	style="background-color:Template:Party color" | Whig	1853 – 1856	Template:Dm
13		Francis De Witt	style="background-color:Template:Party color" | Know Nothing	1856 – 1858	Template:Dm
14		Oliver Warner	style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" | Republican	1858 – 1876	Template:Dm
15	File:Henry Bailey Pierce.png	Henry B. Pierce	style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" | Republican	1876 – 1891	Template:Dm
16	File:William Milo Olin.png	William M. Olin	style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" | Republican	1891 – April 15, 1911	Died in office April 15, 1911.
Acting		Isaac H. Edgett	style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" | Republican	April 15, 1911 – April 28, 1911.	Edgett, was the First Deputy Secretary of the Commonwealth under William M. Olin. As the First Deputy Secretary of the Commonwealth Edgett became the acting Secretary of the Commonwealth upon Olin's death. Edgett served as the acting Secretary of the Commonwealth until Albert P. Langtry was elected by the Massachusetts legislature to serve out the remainder of Olin's term.
17	File:Albert P. Langtry 1920.png	Albert P. Langtry	style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" | Republican	April 28, 1911	Elected by the Legislature, on April 26, 1911, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of William M. Olin. Langtry assumed the office of Secretary of the Commonwealth on April 28, 1911.
18	File:Frank J. Donahue.png	Frank J. Donahue	style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | Democratic	January 15, 1913 – 1915	Template:Dm
19	File:Albert P. Langtry 1920.png	Albert P. Langtry	style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" | Republican	1915 – 1921	Template:Dm
20	File:Frederic W. Cook.png	Frederic W. Cook	style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" | Republican	1921 – 1949	Template:Dm
21		Edward J. Cronin	style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | Democratic	1949 – November 24, 1958	Died in office on November 24, 1958.
Acting		J. Henry Goguen	style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | Democratic	December 1, 1958 – January 20, 1959	Template:Dm
22		Joseph D. Ward	style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | Democratic	January 20, 1959 – 1961	Template:Dm
23	File:Kevin Hagan White.png	Kevin H. White	style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | Democratic	1961 – December 20, 1967	First elected in 1960. Re-elected in 1962. Re-elected in 1964 to a four-year term after the length of terms was extended. Resigned to become Mayor of Boston.
24	File:John Francis Xavier Davoren.png	Jack Davoren	style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | Democratic	1967 – 1974	Template:Dm
25	File:Paul H Guzzi.jpg	Paul H. Guzzi	style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | Democratic	1975 – 1978	Template:Dm
26	File:Michael J. Connolly.png	Michael J. Connolly	style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | Democratic	1979 – 1994	Template:Dm
27	File:William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (cropped).png	William F. Galvin	style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | Democratic	January 1, 1995 – present	Template:Dm

See also

• Massachusetts Attorney General
• Political party strength in Massachusetts

External links

• Official site
• . (Various documents).