2020 election lingers over secretary of state contest

With incumbent Steve Barnett defeated in the primary, Tom Cool and Monae Johnson compete for open seat

The race for secretary of state is usually a sleepy, down-ballot contest that attracts little fanfare.

But when Republican Monae Johnson beat incumbent Secretary of State Steve Barnett at the Republican Party convention in June, the race got spicy.

Incumbents don’t normally lose, and Barnett had done nothing in particular other than being the state’s chief elections officer during the 2020 election, and that’s where his troubles started.