Podcast appearances and mentions of Michael G Adams

Join the #McConnellCenter as we welcome KY Secretary of State Michael Adams to convince us to read Robert Putnam's book Bowling Alone! Michael G. Adams is Kentucky's 86th Secretary of State. Michael graduated from McCracken County public schools, was the first in his family to get a bachelor's degree, and attended Harvard Law School on low-income aid. Michael worked for Senator Mitch McConnell and Governor Ernie Fletcher before moving to Washington to serve as Counsel to the U.S. Deputy Attorney General in the second Bush Administration. We all know we need to read more and there are literally millions of books on shelves with new ones printed every day. How do we sort through all the possibilities to find the book that is just right for us now? Well, the McConnell Center is bringing authors and experts to inspire us to read impactful and entertaining books that might be on our shelves or in our e-readers, but which we haven't yet picked up. We hope you learn a lot in the following podcast and we hope you might be inspired to pick up one or more of the books we are highlighting this year at the University of Louisville's McConnell Center. Stay Connected Visit us at McConnellcenter.org Subscribe to our newsletter  Facebook: @mcconnellcenter Instagram: @ulmcenter  Twitter: @ULmCenter This podcast is a production of the McConnell Center

Recent years have seen unprecedented controversies about election rules, including mail-in ballots and drop boxes, partisan and racial gerrymandering, early voting, ballot harvesting, and methods of vote counting. Because election laws have partisan consequences, the legislators who make election laws, the officials who administer elections, and the judges who decide election cases are often suspected of exercising power so as to increase their own side’s electoral chances. As we look ahead to future elections, this panel will consider what it means to have a fair election process and how much deference judges should pay to the determinations of officials whose actions in formulating and applying election laws may have partisan motivations.Featuring:Hon. Michael G. Adams, Secretary of State, Commonwealth of KentuckyProf. Richard Briffault, Joseph P. Chamberlain Professor of Legislation, Columbia Law SchoolProf. Michael R. Dimino, Professor of Law, Widener University Commonwealth Law SchoolProf. Richard H. Pildes, Sudler Family Professor of Constitutional Law, New York University School of LawHon. Bradley A. Smith, Josiah H. Blackmore II/Shirley M. Nault Professor of Law, Capital University Law School; Former Commissioner, Federal Election CommissionModerator: Hon. Thomas M. Hardiman, United States Court of Appeals, Third Circuit

Michael G. Adams is Kentucky's Secretary of State, the top elections official in that state. He is a Harvard Law graduate who was a senior lawyer at the Justice Department in the George W. Bush administration. He built a private practice over the last 15 years advising major Republican clients on how to navigate the thicket of election laws, and working to help Republicans win elections across the country. He was hired by the Republican Governor’s Association in 2007 as their general counsel, and over the next decade advised “candidates, PACs, issue groups, donors and political consultants, in connection with federal, state and local elections,” according to his law firm website. In 2017 Pence’s PAC, Great America Committee, hired him for legal and strategic advice on compliance with election law. The last payment to Adams’ law firm, Chalmers & Adams, was on June 24. Fraud in elections, Adams said, "does happen, but it doesn't happen on a widespread basis when it does happen. It typically happens in a small town.” “But you're not going to see widespread fraud in a presidential or a Senate or a governor's race. It's just not feasible. And it hasn't been [feasible] in seventy or eighty years," Adams told me.We talk in depth about why that's the case: how ballots are kept secure, and how mail ballots are tracked by elections officials. Republican voters are also very supportive of drop boxes, Adams said.We also talked about the need for younger Americans to start signing up as poll workers as an act of duty and patriotism. "We need to run an election in Kentucky and disproportionately, [elections officials are] in their seventies and eighties,” he said. “And my generation, Gen X, hasn't stepped up to replace our aging or workers. That's not a problem just for today. That's a problem going forward for this decade."Outro music: "Drown" by Lecrae Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/thelonggame. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Episode Summary The Honorable Michael G. Adams, Kentucky Secretary of State, joins McConnell Center Director Dr. Gary L. Gregg II to discuss the impact of Covid-19 on Kentucky’s upcoming primary election, how his office has managed the challenges posed by the Coronavirus, and leadership lessons from this experience. Adams is a 1998 graduate of the McConnell Scholars Program at the University of Louisville. Links Mentioned Register to vote at govoteky.com Stay informed by visiting https://www.sos.ky.gov/ Stay Connected Visit us at McConnellcenter.org Subscribe to our newsletter  Facebook: @mcconnellcenter Instagram: @ulmcenter  Twitter: @ULmCenter This podcast is a production of the McConnell Center at the University of Louisville. Views expressed in this show are those of the participants and not necessarily those of the McConnell Center.

Election days are an opportunity for COVID-19 to spread widely among vulnerable populations. Kentucky is among states that have delayed primaries while evaluating what changes to the election process may be necessary. Republican Michael G. Adams is the Secretary of State for Kentucky. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The playing field for independent speech has improved, but there are challenges still for small groups that want to influence elections. Michael G. Adams and Neil Reiff are campaign finance attorneys in Washington. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.