Connie Lawson is Indiana’s 61^st Secretary of State. As Indiana’s Chief Elections Officer, she is focused on ensuring the integrity and security of our state’s elections. Since taking office, Secretary Lawson has championed sweeping election reforms, and has led the effort to clean Indiana’s voter rolls.  A tireless advocate for increasing Indiana’s financial literacy and protecting Indiana investors, Secretary Lawson educates Hoosiers about smart money decisions and fights for stringent penalties for white collar criminals. She is also directing substantial innovation and leveraging cutting edge technology to improve how businesses interact with government by leading the charge on the state’s business one-stop portal.

Secretary Lawson is not just an advocate for election security. She is also working to modernize elections through vote centers. As a state Senator, Secretary Lawson authored legislation allowing any county in the state to move to the vote center model and no-excuse early voting for all. As Secretary of State, she works to educate voters and elected officials on the cost saving benefits and convenience of the vote center model, which allows voters to vote anywhere in their county and requires extra early voting locations. Thirty-five counties and counting have since made the decision to adopt vote centers.

She is committed to putting financial criminals behind bars, and believes that stronger financial literacy is the best way to protect Hoosiers from falling prey to scams. Hoosiers’ financial education is often overlooked, but Secretary Lawson is working to end this cycle by covering the taboo topic of money and providing free financial courses in high schools statewide.

She’s also working to modernize the way the state does business by creating INBiz, a nationally recognized one-stop business portal that serves as businesses’ single point of contact for registration, filing, reporting and making payments across state agencies.

Secretary Lawson lends her substantial leadership experience to help great organizations.  She serves as Past President of the National Association of Secretaries of State, an honorary governor of the Richard G. Lugar Excellence in Public Service Series, the honorary chairwoman of the Lupus Foundation of Indiana, and a co-chair of the Hendricks County United Way.  

Prior to serving as Secretary of State, Lawson served in the Indiana Senate for sixteen years, where she accomplished significant legislative success. Respected across the aisle, she quickly earned the admiration of her colleagues and made history in 2006 when she was selected as the first woman to serve as Majority Floor Leader in the Indiana Senate.

Before joining the Indiana Senate, Lawson served as Clerk of the Hendricks County Circuit Court for eight years. During her tenure, she was named elections administrator of the year by the Indiana State Election Board and clerk of the year by the Indiana Clerk’s Association, both in 1993.

As a public servant, Lawson has been a true inspiration to women in government, an agent of change for Indiana counties and a determined advocate for the prevention of diseases that would rob us of our loved ones. In addition to her public work, she and her husband Jack own Lawson & Company, an auctioneer and real estate company.

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