Political courage is rare. That’s why we endorse this candidate for Secretary of State. | Opinion

As an editorial board, we disagree with Republican Michael Adams on many things. We don’t like his stance on abortion, or guns, or his extracurricular legal work for national Republicans like Nikki Haley.

But when it comes to Secretary of State Michael Adams, we admire his stalwart defense of democracy and his willingness to resist the most extreme elements of the former President Donald Trump wing of the Republican Party. It’s why we think he deserves our endorsement for another term as Secretary of State.

His challenger, Democrat Buddy Wheatley, was an excellent legislator and would make a fine secretary of state. But his platform mostly rests on expanding voting in Kentucky, a plank that would come to a thudding halt in front of the GOP supermajority in the General Assembly. As a Republican, Adams will still have more sway.

We think Adams deserves another term because he stood up when it mattered most.

During COVID, he worked with Gov. Andy Beshear to design a voting system that became a model for the future with voting centers and more hours. Sadly, the legislature did not adopt a system of mail-in ballots. But Adams championed our current process of absentee ballots and three days of early voting.

It’s not perfect, but it’s better than it was. In fact, Adams recently warned that he’s been told there are legislators who would like to end early voting if they don’t see more participation in it.

In 2020, President Donald Trump won Kentucky by an impressive margin, but he lost the national election. Instead of ignoring fellow Republicans who entered into a national frenzy of election denial, Adams called them out. Unlike many other Republicans, who waffled about the mob attack on our U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 Adams said he was “just absolutely disgusted.”

When State Sen. Adrienne Southworth, R-Lawrencburg set out on a statewide “Restore Election Integrity Tour” that claims past elections have all been rigged, (despite the fact that Trump and Kentucky Republicans have won most of them), Adams pushed back. He pointed out for the 1,000th time that Kentucky’s voting machines are not connected to the Internet and have not been hacked.

Standing up for democracy in this way has cost Adams political support in the General Assembly. In fact, he argues for another term so he can protect the small gains we’ve made to expand voter access in Kentucky.

Some Democrats were alarmed when Adams mentioned that Kentucky might leave ERIC, the Electronic Registration Information Center, which has recently become a target of right-wing complaints.

Adams called ERIC a “godsend” in cleaning up voter rolls, for example, in finding registered voters who might have died in other states. But ERIC already costs $40,000 a year and every time a state leaves, the dues go up. So Adams said the decision will be financial, not political, and he’s already exploring other options.

Adams supports voting rights for felons who have served their complete sentences and were not convicted on violent charges.

In short, Adams is a Republican who has stood up to the worst kinds of extremism — the kind that threatens voting and the peaceful transfer of power — even when it might hurt his political future.

This is the kind of courage we must see more of in a red state like Kentucky, and we believe it qualifies Adams to another term in office.

This story was originally published October 26, 2023 at 10:33 AM.