DES MOINES, Iowa – Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate announced his bid for reelection on Tuesday. During Pate’s time in office, Iowa has set record highs for voter registration and participation while ensuring the integrity of the vote.
The 63-year-old Republican seeks his fourth term as Secretary of State. Pate submitted his candidate filing Tuesday, with more than 7,250 signatures and support in all 99 counties.
Pate was first elected as Iowa Secretary of State in 1994 and served one term before spending time in the private sector. Before running for Secretary of State, he served six years in the Iowa Senate. He was elected as Mayor of Cedar Rapids and served one term from 2002 to 2006. Pate was elected to his second term as Secretary of State in 2014 and reelected to his third term in 2018.
To fulfill his 2014 campaign process, Pate wrote and introduced a Voter ID bill that was passed and signed into law. Since then he has defended them successfully in court multiple times.
He was also unanimously chosen as President of the National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS) in 2019.
Pate’s efforts to ensure Iowa’s election cybersecurity is protected in all 99 counties earned him the 2019 NASS IDEAS Award. He has also received two awards from the U.S. Election Assistance Commission for improving voter accessibility for Iowans with disabilities.
“Election officials are the referees. We don’t wear team jerseys. I promised Iowans I would make it easy to vote, but hard to cheat in Iowa and the numbers speak for themselves. Since implementing Voter ID, we’ve had record-high turnout in four elections,” Pate said in a released statement. “We also adopted post-election audits, that ensure the vote count is accurate. Because of the reforms we put in place, Iowans can be confident in the sanctity of their vote.”
Pate also created an online voter registration system and a Safe at Home address confidentiality program for Iowans.
“Survivors of domestic violence, sexual abuse, trafficking, stalking, and assault can live without fear of their address becoming public record because of Iowa’s Safe at Home program. More than 1,200 Iowans are safer today because of the reforms we put in place,” Pate said.
While in office, Pate has also modernized Iowa’s business filings process. Resulting in reducing the filing time for a new business, a task that used to take a few weeks is now done within one business day.
“We’re giving Iowa’s business community the service it deserves,” he remarked.
Pate is a nationally recognized owner of a small business and served president of the Iowa League of Cities. He lives with his wife Jane in Cedar Rapids, they have three children and five grandchildren.
