NASS Names New Jersey Secretary of State Tahesha Way as President and Inducts New Executive Board

For Immediate Release — July 10, 2022 — Baton Rouge, LA — The members of the National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS) have selected Tahesha Way, New Jersey’s 34th Secretary of State, as President of the associ­ation. In NASS’s 118-year history, Way is the first African American person to hold this prestig­ious national post.

"I am honored to be the first Black woman to serve as NASS President. This organization’s non­partisan work has never been more critical representing the nation’s guardians of democracy,” said Way. “I would also like to express my deep gratitude for those who came before me. They bravely paved the way and without them this historic moment would not be possible.”

During her time with NASS, Way has served on the Election Infrastructure Subsector Govern­ment Coordinating Council (EIS-GCC), as well as the co-chair of NASS’s State Heritage and International Relations Committees. Additionally, in December 2019, she participated in a NASS Israel delegation to discuss cybersecurity, election administration and more.

Joining Way on the NASS Executive Board these members were also selected at the 2022 NASS Summer Conference:

President: Hon. Tahesha Way, New Jersey
Immediate Past President: Hon. Kyle Ardoin, Louisiana
President-elect: Hon. Scott Schwab, Kansas
Treasurer: Hon. Steve Simon, Minnesota 
Secretary: Hon. Jocelyn Benson, Michigan
Eastern Region Vice-President: Hon. Jeffery Bullock, Delaware
Southern Region Vice-President: Hon. Michael Watson, Mississippi
Midwestern Region Vice-President: Hon. Robert Evnen, Nebraska
Western Region Vice-President: Hon. Shemia Fagan, Oregon
Member-at-Large (NPA Section): Hon. Kimberly Bassett, District of Columbia
Member-at-Large (ACR Section): Hon. Christi Jacobsen, Montana

All national officers will serve a one-year term, ending July 2023.

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Media Contact:
Maria Benson, Director of Communications
mbenson@sso.org | 202-624-3528 | www.nass.org