About Katharine
Proven, Prepared, and Committed to Every New Mexican’s Voice
Born in Germany on an Air Force base into a multi-generational military and union family, Katharine Clark spent her bilingual early years in Spain, learning to navigate different systems and perspectives. Moving frequently and adapting to new places taught her that listening, building trust, and taking decisive action to protect democracy are essential — values rooted in her own family’s legacy of service. Her grandfather’s unit flag hangs in the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, honoring his unit’s role in liberating a Nazi concentration camp — a reminder of the fight against fascism and the cost of failing to defend democratic institutions. She believes all rights depend on the right to vote — and protecting that right is the foundation of her work.
That legacy of service and sacrifice drives her commitment to ensuring New Mexico’s elections remain free, fair, secure, and a model for the nation. Over the past 25 years, she has led successful coalitions across policy, labor, tech, and elections, serving as a union organizer, small business owner, nonprofit director, public policy fellow, and strategist. She is known for building strong teams that cut through bureaucracy and center real people — not red tape — delivering results by identifying what’s broken, assembling the right team, and executing with urgency and focus. Her leadership has already shaped statewide election practices, policy, and technology adoption, with her innovations and procedures adopted by counties in New Mexico and influencing national best practices.
As Santa Fe County Clerk, Katharine transformed the office into a national model of election excellence — modernizing infrastructure, acquiring a new elections warehouse, digitizing all permanent records, building a pro-voter election process, and earning more national awards than any Clerk’s Office in the state by a factor of ten. She created the state’s first ballot SMS tracking program (even before the Secretary of State), built Democracy 101, launched a recognized poll worker training program highlighted by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, and developed security innovations that started in Santa Fe County and are now modeled nationally.
Her proactive measures have stopped misinformation before it could spread, kept her elections free from partisan interference, and protected voters and election workers from intimidation. Her office’s streamlined procedures consistently make Santa Fe County the first to report results in New Mexico, and her election performance drives New Mexico’s #1 ranking in the MIT Election Performance Index. Clark has led reforms and security initiatives that reach far beyond her county, preparing her to handle the complexity and scale of statewide elections.
She has defended and implemented same-day registration, open primaries, and expanded ballot access for rural, tribal, and disabled voters — reforms that make our democracy stronger and more inclusive. Clark is the only candidate in the race with tribal voter experience and delivers one of the highest tribal turnout numbers in the United States. In Santa Fe County, that commitment has delivered measurable results — leading New Mexico in election performance, security, and turnout — because every innovation is designed to make it easier for real people to vote, know their ballot was counted, and trust the process. For Katharine, that performance isn’t just a statistic — it’s the faces of first-time voters, elders casting their ballots from home, and neighbors who trust their elections because they know their vote truly counts.
Known as a strong, inspirational leader, she keeps her team focused and her office free from election controversies — earning trust from voters across the political spectrum and setting a standard for election integrity in New Mexico. Katharine doesn’t wait for permission; she knows what’s broken, identifies what’s not working, assembles the right team, and acts decisively to deliver visible results — working collaboratively while moving quickly to get things done.
Katharine is running for Secretary of State to expand and safeguard democracy in New Mexico, ensuring every eligible voter not only can cast a ballot but also sees it counted and trusted. As Santa Fe County Clerk, she delivered the best-run elections in the state—achieving the highest turnout, top security performance, and nationally recognized voter-empowerment programs. Clark isn’t waiting for crises; she has already met the same threats—misinformation, aging systems, budget constraints, and climate disruptions—with innovation, preparation, and voter-first solutions.
As Secretary of State, she will build resilient elections by modernizing the voter file and voting systems, protect tribal, rural, and ADA voting access, and bring transparency and voter-empowerment tools statewide. With democracy under unprecedented attack from national and local threats, voters deserve leadership that acts before problems escalate—not one that reacts only after the damage is done—and Katharine is the only candidate who has proven she can meet that standard.
As Secretary of State, she will also strengthen public transparency in campaign finance, streamline business services for entrepreneurs and small businesses, and ensure state records are preserved and accessible for generations — making every core function of the office work better for the people of New Mexico. She believes that effective government should make it easier for people to engage, build, and participate — not bury them in red tape.
Her proactive media strategy — built in Santa Fe County — keeps the office on offense and away from conspiracy theories. From local TV to election panels at the National Press Club, Katharine is a trusted voice in elections, getting facts out early so misinformation doesn’t take hold and keeping her office free from election controversies.
She serves as the elected Legislative Chair of the New Mexico Clerk’s Affiliate, an elected board member for New Mexico Counties, as well as on New Mexico’s Voting System Change Committee, MIT’s Election Lab Advisory Committee, the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Election Advisory Group, Vice Chair of the Election Subcommittee of the National Association of Counties, and founding member of the Partnership of Large Election Jurisdictions. She was re-elected by 1,300 counties to serve on the EI-ISAC (Elections Infrastructure Information Sharing and Analysis Center) cybersecurity leadership council and is also an advisor to the Arizona State University Mechanics of Democracy Laboratory. She currently serves on the board of the Santa Fe Human Rights Alliance. If elected, Katharine will be the first openly LGBTQ+ person elected to statewide executive office in New Mexico.
Katharine holds an MBA in Strategic Management and Public Policy from the University of New Mexico and a dual BA in Cognitive Neuroscience and Moral Psychology from the University of California, Berkeley. She is the only clerk in New Mexico to hold the New Mexico Clerk’s Certification and the only candidate in the race to have completed the national “gold standard” in election administration, the Certified Elections/Registration Administrator (CERA) credential.
Katharine represents a new generation of Democratic leadership: one that honors the work, protects democracy through real results, and makes government work for the people it serves — because all rights depend on the right to vote. She is a proud tía to her niece and nephew, a long-time community leader, and a nationally recognized expert in election integrity, technology, and voter trust.
