The Secretary of State of New York is a cabinet officer in the government of the U.S. state of New York.

History

The office of the Secretary of State of New York was established in 1778, and is one of the oldest government agencies of the state of New York.

Until 1822, the Secretary of State was appointed by the Council of Appointment for an indefinite term , but could be substituted at any time, especially if the majority party in the Council changed. Besides his other duties, the Secretary of State was also the secretary of the Council of Appointment.

From 1823 to 1845, the Secretary was elected by joint ballot of the New York State Legislature for a term of three years.

From 1847 on, the Secretary and the other state cabinet officers were elected by the voters at the state elections in November in odd years to a two-year term, so that, until 1877, they served in the second half of the term of the governor in office and the first half of the term of the succeeding governor, since the governors at the time were elected to a two-year term in even years. From 1877 on, the Governor served a three-year term, while the Secretary continued to be elected for two years.

The Secretary elected in 1895 received an additional year and served a three-year term, and from 1898 on, the Secretary and other state officers were elected in even years to a two-year term at the same time as the Governor, and they served concurrently.

In 1926, during the governorship of Al Smith, the state administration was re-organised, and the office became appointive and has remained so. The last Secretary elected was Florence E. S. Knapp, the first appointed by the Governor was Robert Moses.

Duties

The Secretary is responsible for the regulation of a number of businesses and professions, including private investigators, cosmetologists, real estate brokers and appraisers, and notaries public. The Secretary also regulates cemeteries, registers corporations and business organizations, and maintains business records under the Uniform Commercial Code and other laws.

The Secretary's office includes the Office of Local Government Services, which provides training assistance to local governments in areas such as fire prevention, coastal management, and code enforcement.

The current Secretary of State of New York is Lorraine Cortés-Vázquez.

List of Secretaries of State

Secretary of State	Tenure	Party	Notes
John Morin Scott	March 13, 1778 – September 14, 1784		died in office
Lewis Allaire Scott	October 23, 1784 – March 17, 1798		son of John Morin Scott; died in office; longest-serving Secretary of State (13 years and almost 5 months)
Daniel Hale	March 24, 1798 – August 10, 1801	Federalist
Thomas Tillotson	August 10, 1801 – March 16, 1806	Democratic-Republican
Elisha Jenkins	March 16, 1806 – February 16, 1807	Democratic-Republican
Thomas Tillotson	February 16, 1807 – February 1, 1808	Dem.-Rep./Lewisite
Elisha Jenkins	February 1, 1808 – February 2, 1810	Dem.-Rep./Clintonian
Daniel Hale	February 2, 1810 – February 1, 1811	Federalist
Elisha Jenkins	February 1, 1811 – February 23, 1813	Democratic-Republican
Jacob R. Van Rensselaer	February 23, 1813 – February 16, 1815	Federalist
Peter Buell Porter	February 16, 1815 – February 12, 1816	Democratic-Republican
Robert L. Tillotson	February 12, 1816 – April 16, 1817		son of Thomas Tillotson
Charles D. Cooper	April 16, 1817 – April 24, 1818	Democratic-Republican	son-in-law of Acting Governor John Tayler
John Van Ness Yates	April 24, 1818 – February 14, 1826	Democratic-Republican	first appointed, in 1823 re-elected by the State Legislature
Azariah Cutting Flagg	February 14, 1826 – January 11, 1833	Democratic-Republican	three terms; then elected New York State Comptroller
John Adams Dix	February 1, 1833 – February 4, 1839	Democrat	two terms
John Canfield Spencer	February 4, 1839 – October 1841	Whig	resigned to become U.S. Secretary of War
Archibald Campbell	October 1841 – February 7, 1842	(none)	as Deputy Secretary, acted until the election of a successor
Samuel Young	February 7, 1842 – February 8, 1845	Dem./Barnburner
Nathaniel S. Benton	February 8, 1845 – December 31, 1847	Dem./Hunker	legislated out of office by State Constitution of 1846
Christopher Morgan	January 1, 1848 – December 31, 1851	Whig	first Secretary elected by general ballot; two terms
Henry S. Randall	January 1, 1852 – December 31, 1853	Democrat
Elias W. Leavenworth	January 1, 1854 – December 31, 1855	Whig
Joel T. Headley	January 1, 1856 – December 31, 1857	American
Gideon J. Tucker	January 1, 1858 – December 31, 1859	Democrat
David R. Floyd-Jones	January 1, 1860 – December 31, 1861	Democratic
Horatio Ballard	January 1, 1862 – December 31, 1863	Union
Chauncey Depew	January 1, 1864 – December 31, 1865	Union
Francis C. Barlow	January 1, 1866 – December 31, 1867	Republican
Homer A. Nelson	January 1, 1868 – December 31, 1871	Democrat	two terms
G. Hilton Scribner	January 1, 1872 – December 31, 1873	Republican
Diedrich Willers, Jr.	January 1, 1874 – December 31, 1875	Democrat
John Bigelow	January 1, 1876 – December 31, 1877	Democrat
Allen C. Beach	January 1, 1878 – December 31, 1879	Democrat
Joseph B. Carr	January 1, 1880 – December 31, 1885	Republican	three terms
Frederick Cook	January 1, 1886 – December 31, 1889	Democrat	two terms
Frank Rice	January 1, 1890 – December 31, 1893	Democrat
John Palmer	January 1, 1894 – December 31, 1898	Republican	two terms (1894–1895, 1896–98)
John T. McDonough	January 1, 1899 – December 31, 1902	Republican	two terms
John F. O'Brien	January 1, 1903 – December 31, 1906	Republican	two terms
John S. Whalen	January 1, 1907 – December 31, 1908	Dem./Ind. L.
Samuel S. Koenig	January 1, 1909 – December 31, 1910	Republican
Edward Lazansky	January 1, 1911 – December 31, 1912	Democrat
Mitchell May	January 1, 1913 – December 31, 1914	Democrat
Francis Hugo	January 1, 1915 – December 31, 1920	Republican	three terms
John J. Lyons	January 1, 1921 – December 31, 1922	Republican
James A. Hamilton	January 1, 1923 – December 31, 1924	Democrat
Florence E. S. Knapp	January 1, 1925 – January 17, 1927	Republican	first woman in this office; and last elected Secretary of State
Robert Moses	January 17, 1927 – January 1, 1929	Republican	first Secretary of State appointed by the Governor
Edward J. Flynn	January 1, 1929 – January 17, 1939	Democrat
Michael F. Walsh	January 17, 1939 – January 1, 1943	Democratic
Thomas J. Curran	January 1, 1943 – January 1, 1955	Republican
Carmine DeSapio	January 1, 1955 – January 1, 1959	Democratic
Caroline K. Simon	January 1, 1959 – August 22, 1963	Republican	appointed a judge of the New York Court of Claims
John P. Lomenzo	August 22, 1963 – January 1, 1974	Republican
John J. Ghezzi	January 1, 1974 – January 1, 1975	Republican
Mario Cuomo	January 1, 1975 – December 31, 1978	Democrat	elected Lieutenant Governor
Basil Paterson	January 1, 1979 – January 1, 1983	Democrat
Gail Shaffer	January 1, 1983 – January 4, 1995	Democrat
Alexander Treadwell	January 4, 1995 – April 12, 2001	Republican	became Chairman of the Republican State Committee
Randy Daniels	April 12, 2001 – September 23, 2005	Republican	a Democrat when appointed, became a Republican in 2002, resigned
Frank Milano	September 23, 2005 – April 19, 2006	Republican	as First Deputy Secretary acted until the appointment of a successor
Christopher Jacobs	April 19, 2006 – January 1, 2007	Republican
Lorraine Cortés-Vázquez	January 1, 2007 – (incumbent)	Democrat

Notes

Source

• Google Book The Civil List of New York

External links

• Official website of the New York Department of State