Michael Adams

Michael G. Adams, a native of Paducah, is Kentucky's 86th Secretary of State and the 77th person to serve in that role.

Michael attended McCracken County public schools and was the first in his family to get a bachelor's degree. After graduating from the University of Louisville, Michael attended Harvard Law School on low-income aid. Returning to Kentucky, Michael clerked for Chief U.S. District Judge John Heyburn, worked on Senator Mitch McConnell's 2002 reelection campaign, and served as Deputy General Counsel to Governor Ernie Fletcher, before moving to Washington to accept an appointment as Counsel to the U.S. Deputy Attorney General in the second Bush Administration.

In 2007, Michael began full-time private practice in election law, first as General Counsel to the Republican Governors Association, and later opening a national practice in the field. He has represented several national political committees, numerous national political figures, and statewide campaign efforts in all 50 states. Because of this unique election experience, in 2016 Michael was appointed to the Kentucky State Board of Elections, where he gained critical preparation for serving as the Commonwealth's chief election official.

As a candidate, Michael was routinely described as the most qualified person ever nominated for Kentucky Secretary of State. Despite trailing his well-known, well-regarded opponent by 15 points as late as August 2019, Michael leveraged relentless retail campaigning and a strong KET debate performance into a comfortable win, carrying 107 of 120 counties.

Inaugurated as Secretary of State on January 6, 2020, Michael first pushed his highest legislative priority, Kentucky's first Photo ID to Vote law, through the General Assembly, then pivoted to saving the primary and general elections from the problems that befell other states during the COVID-19 pandemic. His work in making it easy to vote and hard to cheat, and taking Kentucky from the back of the pack to a national leader in election administration in mere months, has earned praise throughout America and across party lines. Adams intends to introduce additional legislation to improve Kentucky's elections, and to continue his administrative efforts to clean up Kentucky's voter rolls.

Michael is happily married to Christina and is the proud father of Lucia.