List of Illinois Secretaries of State
# List of Illinois Secretaries of State

This is a list of all people who have served as Illinois Territorial Secretary and Illinois Secretary of State.

## Territorial Secretary

Secretaries of the Illinois Territory were appointed by the President of the United States with the advice and consent of the United States Senate. Nathaniel Pope became left after being elected as the territory's non-voting delegate to $Congress.^{:12}$

| # | Name | Start | End |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Nathaniel Pope | $1809-04-25^{:9}$ | $1816^{:19}$ |
| 2 | Joseph B. $Phillips^{:12}$ | 1816-12-16 | 1818-10-09 |

## Secretary of State

Secretaries of State before 1848 were appointed by governors; Horace S. Cooley was both appointed by Governor French under that system, and retained in office by election under the 1848 Constitution.

Each officer holder is listed with his home county as given in the Illinois Blue Book.

| # | name | party | start | end | county | notes |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Elias Kent Kane | Democratic-Republican | 1818-10-06 | 1822-12-16 | Randolph | Resigned |
| 2 | Samuel D. Lockwood | Democratic-Republican | 1822-12-18 | 1823-04-02 | Madison | Resigned |
| 3 | David Blackwell | Democratic-Republican | 1823-04-02 | 1824-10-15 | St. Clair | Resigned |
| 4 | Morris Birkbeck | Democratic-Republican | 1824-10-15 | 1825-01-15 | Edwards | Resigned |
| 5 | George Forquer | Democratic-Republican | 1825-01-15 | 1828-12-31 | Sangamon | Resigned |
| 6 | Alexander Pope Field | Democratic | 1829-01-23 | 1840-11-30 | Union | Removed |
| 7 | Stephen A. Douglas | Democratic | 1840-11-30 | 1841-02-27 | Morgan | Resigned |
| 8 | Lyman Trumbull | Democratic | 1841-03-01 | 1843-03-04 | St. Clair | Removed |
| 9 | Thompson Campbell | Democratic | 1843-03-06 | 1846-12-23 | Jo Daviess | Resigned |
| 10 | Horace S. Cooley | Democratic | 1846-12-23 | 1850-04-02 | Adams | First to be elected; died |
| 11 | David L. Gregg | Democratic | 1850-04-02 | 1853-01-10 | Cook | |
| 12 | Alexander Starne | Democratic | 1853-01-10 | 1857-01-12 | Pike | |
| 13 | Ozias M. Hatch | Republican | 1857-01-12 | 1865-01-16 | Pike | |
| 14 | Sharon Tyndale | Republican | 1865-01-16 | 1869-01-11 | St. Clair | |
| 15 | Edward Rummel | Republican | 1869-01-11 | 1873-01-13 | Peoria | |
| 16 | George H. Harlow | Republican | 1873-01-13 | 1881-01-17 | Tazewell | |
| 17 | Henry D. Dement | Republican | 1881-01-17 | 1889-01-14 | Lee | |
| 18 | Isaac N. Pearson | Republican | 1889-01-14 | 1893-01-10 | McDonough | |
| 19 | William H. Hinrichsen | Democratic | 1893-01-10 | 1897-01-11 | Morgan | |
| 20 | James A. Rose | Republican | 1897-01-11 | 1912-05-29 | Pope | Died |
| 21 | Cornelius J. Doyle | Republican | 1912-06-03 | 1913-02-03 | Greene | Appointed by Gov. Deneen |
| 22 | Harry Woods | Democratic | 1913-02-03 | 1914-10-11 | Cook | Died |
| 23 | Lewis G. Stevenson | Democratic | 1914-10-14 | 1917-01-08 | McLean | Appointed by Gov. Dunne |
| 24 | Louis L. Emmerson | Republican | 1917-01-08 | 1929-01-14 | Jefferson | |
| 25 | William J. Stratton | Republican | 1929-01-14 | 1933-01-09 | Lake | |
| 26 | Edward J. Hughes | Democratic | 1933-01-09 | 1944-06-28 | Cook | Died |
| 27 | Richard Yates Rowe | Republican | 1944-06-30 | 1945-01-08 | Morgan | Appointed by Gov. Green |
| 28 | Edward J. Barrett | Democratic | 1945-01-08 | 1953-01-12 | Cook | |
| 29 | Charles F. Carpentier | Republican | 1953-01-12 | 1964-04-03 | Rock Island | Died |
| 30 | William H. Chamberlain | Democratic | 1964-04-03 | 1965-01-11 | Sangamon | Appointed by Gov. Kerner |
| 31 | Paul Powell | Democratic | 1965-01-11 | 1970-10-10 | Johnson | Died |
| 32 | John W. Lewis, Jr. | Republican | 1970-10-13 | 1973-01-08 | Clark | Appointed by Gov. Ogilvie |
| 33 | Michael J. Howlett | Democratic | 1973-01-08 | 1977-01-10 | Cook | |
| 34 | Alan J. Dixon | Democratic | 1977-01-10 | 1981-01-03 | St. Clair | Resigned to become U.S. Senator |
| 35 | James Edgar | Republican | 1981-01-05 | 1991-01-14 | Coles | Appointed by Gov. Thompson; elected after |
| 36 | George H. Ryan | Republican | 1991-01-14 | 1999-01-11 | Kankakee | |
| 37 | Jesse White | Democratic | 1999-01-11 | 2023-01-09 | Cook | |
| 38 | Alexi Giannoulias | Democratic | 2023-01-09 | | Cook | Incumbent as of 2023 |
