- Credibility:
CHICAGO — Democrat Alexi Giannoulias will be Illinois’ next secretary of state, replacing longtime officer holder Jesse White.
Republican candidate Dan Brady conceded to Giannoulias Tuesday night. Giannoulias will take over the office from White, who has served as Illinois’ secretary of state since 1999 but who is retiring.
“The secretary of state’s office will make your life better, and we will makes the lives of those who are poor or underserved better,” Giannoulias said his victory speech.
Giannoulias said he’ll work to rebuild Illinoisans’ trust in state agencies.
“I will fight for you every single day,” Giannoulias said.
Giannoulias, a Chicago native, has vowed to protect people’s voting rights, modernize the Secretary of State’s Office, strengthen the agency’s business services to empower minority entrepreneurs and strengthen the state’s ethics laws for lawmakers and lobbyists, among other issues.
Brady, a state representative from Bloomington, said he’d focus on increasing the number of Illinoisans signed up as organ donors and modernize the agency to reduce wait times.
Giannoulias previously served as Illinois’ treasurer 2007-2011. He unsuccessfully ran for the U.S. Senate in 2010; after his loss, he took a step back from public life before returning for the secretary of state campaign.
Giannoulias beat out Ald. David Moore (17th), City Clerk Anna Valencia — who had been endorsed by White — and Sidney Moore in the Democratic primary this spring.
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