Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin, a Republican who has overseen the state’s elections for five years, will not run for reelection, he said Tuesday, citing “pervasive lies” about Louisiana’s elections that have proliferated as part of a national effort to undermine election systems since President Donald Trump’s 2020 loss.
The decision comes after Ardoin oversaw a controversial stop-and-start effort to replace Louisiana’s voting machines, which was complicated by the pandemic and a wave of conspiracy theories promoted by Trump supporters, who made baseless claims that the state’s elections were rife with fraud.
It also opens up the field to replace him. House Speaker Clay Schexnayder, R-Gonzales, who is term-limited, is expected to announce a bid for secretary of state. Public Service Commissioner Mike Francis, an independently wealthy Republican, has already announced he is running, as has Brandon Trosclair, a Republican backed by GOP activists who have criticized Ardoin and the state’s elections process. State Rep. Barry Ivey, R-Baton Rouge, said he is reconsidering a bid after earlier saying he wouldn't run against Ardoin.
Ardoin at times sought to placate the voter fraud crowd, at one point allowing MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell to speak at length about his theories about elections at a state Voting System Commission meeting aimed at helping replace Louisiana’s aging machines. But he recently has pushed back against his critics, pointing to independent audits that have shown the state’s system is solid.
In a statement Tuesday, Ardoin cited recognition from the Louisiana Legislative Auditor and other groups, which have found Louisiana’s elections are safe and secure.
“I hope that Louisianans of all political persuasions will stand against the pervasive lies that have eroded trust in our elections by using conspiracies so far-fetched that they belong in a work of fiction,” Ardoin said. “The vast majority of Louisiana’s voters know that our elections are secure and accurate, and it is shameful and outright dangerous that a small minority of vocal individuals have chosen to denigrate the hard work of our election staff and spread unproven falsehoods.”
Critics of the state’s elections have ramped up their efforts in the past year, as a group affiliated with Lindell has toured local GOP groups to fire people up about what they claim is rampant voter fraud and to slam Ardoin.
Independent auditors have determined Louisiana’s elections are safely run. Trump won the state by a huge margin in 2020, and Republicans up and down the ticket have increasingly gained ground.
Many municipal clerks of court, who administer elections, are worried that the conservative activists could successfully push for an entirely paper ballot system, which election officials say would make elections difficult to administer.
Ardoin's office said he will finish out his term but will not run for re-election so he can spend more time focusing on his family and health. In his statement, Ardoin noted that in his five years in office, he has had to navigate holding elections amid hurricanes, the COVID pandemic and “lies about our election processes and procedures.”
His departure means there will be at least five statewide offices without an incumbent running this year, along with governor, attorney general, treasurer and insurance commissioner.
State Sen. Sharon Hewitt, a Republican who is running for governor, said on Twitter she received several calls asking her if she'd run for Secretary of State, but that she's "fully committed" to the governor's race.
Ardoin took over from previous Secretary of State Tom Schedler in 2018 after Schedler resigned amid a sexual harassment scandal and won a special election. In 2019 he won a full term to office.