Republican nominee for WI secretary of state wants to see changes in office long held by Democrat LaFollette

In several states this fall, candidates are running for Secretary of State reportedly with the aim of giving that office more control over elections.

That idea is one possible area of reform Amy Loudenbeck could pursue if she’s elected Wisconsin’s secretary of state in November.

Republican Loudenbeck is giving up a Wisconsin state Assembly seat in the Janesville-Beloit area after 12 years to take on Democratic Secretary of State Doug LaFollette.

“The secretary of state has one full-time employee,” she said Thursday on La Crosse Talk on WIZM’s La Crosse Talk with Mike Hayes. “It’s in the basement of the Capitol, and they authenticate documents for international court and travel.”

Loudenbeck believes Oct. 27 was LaFollette’s 16,000th day as secretary. He has held the post for 44 of the past 48 years.

Loudenbeck said the Secretary of State should have more duties than basically authenticating documents. At the least, she wants to modernize the office’s services if she unseats LaFollette.

“So, at a minimum, just earn the paycheck and do the job, because right now, I’m hearing a lot of complaints as I travel about, people who are waiting for their documents,” Loudenbeck said.

She added that one of the options for improving the Secretary of State position is to have it operate elections, as is done in several other states.