Kansas Secretary of State Ron Thornburgh announced Monday he would resign his position effective Feb. 15, 2010.
“It has been a tremendous honor and privilege to serve my fellow Kansans as Secretary of State for the last 15 years. My family and I have been very blessed by this opportunity. The support and friendships we have received from countless Kansans has been invaluable. Thank you to the voters and my staff for making this experience possible. I am very proud of my record and the many accomplishments throughout my years of public service,” said Thornburgh.
Thornburgh was first elected in 1994 and re-elected in 1998, 2002 and 2006. In his last two elections, he received the most votes of any statewide elected candidate. His accomplishments include modernizing the office, improving efficiencies and reducing the size of the staff. On the national level, he served as president of the National Association of Secretaries of State and helped to draft the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) of 2002.
Thornburgh was recognized with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2002 Digital Government “Agent of Change” award presented after he led Kansas to national prominence in electronic services. The award recognized Thornburgh as being one of the leading pioneers in e-government. He has worked tirelessly to find ways to make doing business with the Secretary of State’s office faster, better and cheaper for customers.
Thornburgh will move to the private sector and join NIC as the Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing. NIC is the leading provider of official government portals, online services and secure government payment processing solutions. The company is based out of Olathe, Kansas.
Augusta, Kan. —
