Office Holders
The Secretary of State, to be eligible to take the oath of office, must be a United States citizen of at least 25 years of age, and a resident of Illinois for at least three years preceding the election.
Jesse White, a Democrat, is serving his fourth term as the 37th Secretary of State, the first African-American in the position and second-longest serving Secretary. Before being elected Secretary of State in November 1998, White had been an elected office-holder from Chicago since 1974.
The Secretary of State before White was George H. Ryan, a Republican from Kankakee, Illinois. He held the office from 1991 to 1999, when he became Governor of Illinois. Ryan's tenure as Secretary of State led to his downfall in the "licenses for bribes" scandal: after a major automobile accident in Wisconsin that killed six children, investigators discovered that unqualified truck drivers were receiving drivers licenses in exchange for bribes. Ryan chose not to run for re-election in 2002, and in 2006, he was convicted of fraud, including using his authority as Secretary of State to end his office's internal investigation after it discovered the scheme.
See also: List of Illinois Secretaries of StateRead more about this topic: Illinois Secretary Of State
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