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Heather French Henry And Michael Adams Will Face Off For Sec. Of State

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Democrat Heather French Henry and Republican Michael Adams will face off in the November election for Kentucky Secretary of State.

French Henry, currently the Kentucky Deputy Veteran Affairs Commissioner, emerged from a group of four Democrats vying for Kentucky Secretary of State. French Henry also was the former Veteran Affairs Commissioner under former Gov. Steve Beshear. In Tuesday's primary, with about 93 percent of precincts reporting, she had won about 71 percent of the Democrat votes.

French Henry wrote in an op-ed in the Courier Journal that she wants to make voting easier for Kentuckians. That would include extending polling hours on Election Day and creating an early-voting period on weekend days in the lead up to an election. She also supports allowing nonviolent offenders to gain voting rights. French Henry is also the former Miss America 2000 and worked on veterans issues in the years following her reign.

Michael Adams won the Republican nomination, winning nearly 41 percent of the vote and defeating three opponents. Adams runs a national Republican election law practice, helping people like Vice President Mike Pence with his PAC, the Great America Committee. He’s also worked as the general counsel for the Republican Governors Association.

Adams has saidhe supports requiring a photo ID to vote and was on the Kentucky State Board of Elections until he left to launch his campaign.

Whoever wins the November election will take the place of current Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes, who wasn’t able to run again because of term limits.

The secretary of state is the state's chief election official. They manage state documents and disclose campaign and lobbyist financial information. They also handle all filings for people running for office across the state.

WFPL's Henry Zimmerman contributed to this story.

Lisa Gillespie is WFPL's Health and Innovation Reporter.