Regena Thomas is the former Secretary of State of New Jersey

Secretary of State of New Jersey

The Secretary of State of New Jersey is responsible for overseeing artistic, cultural, and historical programs within the U.S. state of New Jersey, as well as volunteerism and community service projects within the state....

 and a political consultant. She served in the cabinets of former Gov. James McGreevey and former Gov. Richard Codey

Richard Codey

Richard James Codey is an American Democratic Party politician who served as the 53rd Governor of New Jersey from November 2004 to January 2006. He has served in the New Jersey Senate since 1981 and served as the President of the Senate from 2002 to January 2010. He represents the 27th Legislative...

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Secretary Thomas worked in state government in Kentucky

Kentucky

The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...

 and local government in the District of Columbia. She became an expert on political consulting and in voter turnout for Democratic candidates. Her work lead to her founding her own political consulting firm and she has a history working with statewide candidates in New Jersey. She handled get out the vote

Get out the vote

"Get out the vote" are terms used to describe two categories of political activity, both aimed at increasing the number of votes cast in one or more elections.- Non-partisan contexts :...

 efforts for the 1996 U.S. Senate campaign of Rep. Robert Torricelli

Robert Torricelli

Robert Guy Torricelli , nicknamed "the Torch," is an American politician from the U.S. state of New Jersey. Torricelli, a Democrat, served 14 years in the U.S. House of Representatives before being elected to the U.S. Senate...

, the 2000 U.S. Senate campaign of Jon Corzine

Jon Corzine

Jon Stevens Corzine is the former CEO of Goldman Sachs and of MF Global, and a one time American politician, who served as the 54th Governor of New Jersey from 2006 to 2010. A Democrat, Corzine served five years of a six-year U.S. Senate term representing New Jersey before being elected Governor...

 and McGreevey's 2001 campaign for governor. She also worked on Corzine's 2005 campaign for governor.

After McGreevey's 2001 election, he appointed Thomas to a four-year term as secretary of state. As secretary of state, Thomas held responsibility for the state archives, cultural affairs, minority affairs, volunteerism, Native American

Native Americans in the United States

Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...

 affairs, literacy, state history, and record keeping. McGreevey reportedly considered transferring state elections to the secretary of state from the New Jersey Attorney General

New Jersey Attorney General

The Attorney General of New Jersey is a member of the executive cabinet of the state. The office is appointed by the Governor of New Jersey and term limited...

's office, but received criticism because of Thomas' background in political consulting. State elections administration had been under the secretary of state until former Gov. Christine Todd Whitman

Christine Todd Whitman

Christine Todd "Christie" Whitman is an American Republican politician and author who served as the 50th Governor of New Jersey from 1994 to 2001, and was the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency in the administration of President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2003. She was New...

 transferred it to the attorney general.

During Thomas' tenure, she received criticism from state lawmakers for taking time off and for what they considered to be political work from her state office. Thomas said she did any political work in her spare time and in 2004 she took a multimonth leave of absence to "recharge her batteries." Thomas also spent part of this leave working on the presidential campaign of Massachusetts

Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

 Sen. John Kerry

John Kerry

John Forbes Kerry is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts, the 10th most senior U.S. Senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2004 presidential election, but lost to former President George W...

 and North Carolina

North Carolina

North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

 Sen. John Edwards

John Edwards

Johnny Reid "John" Edwards is an American politician, who served as a U.S. Senator from North Carolina. He was the Democratic nominee for Vice President in 2004, and was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004 and 2008.He defeated incumbent Republican Lauch Faircloth in...

. It was reported that Thomas was interested in becoming United States Ambassador to Haiti

United States Ambassador to Haiti

This is a list of United States Ambassadors to Haiti. The current ambassador is Kenneth H. Merten.-See also:*Haiti – United States relations*Foreign relations of Haiti*Ambassadors of the United States-References:*-External links:* * *...

 if Kerry had won the 2004 presidential election

United States presidential election, 2004

The United States presidential election of 2004 was the United States' 55th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 2, 2004. Republican Party candidate and incumbent President George W. Bush defeated Democratic Party candidate John Kerry, the then-junior U.S. Senator...

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As a part of Thomas' official duties as secretary of state, she was charged with accepting McGreevey's resignation in November 2004. Thomas left office in January 2006 when her four year constitutionally mandated term expired.