Natalie Tennant — SPARQNOW

At-a-Glance

Elected as the first female commissioner on the Kanawha County Commission in 2024.
Served as West Virginia's 29th Secretary of State from 2009 to 2017.
Implemented online voter registration and automatic voter registration in West Virginia.
Led West Virginia as the first state to use online voting for deployed military members in 2010.
Spearheaded bipartisan legislation in 2015 creating a business waiver program for veterans.
Served as a Harvard IOP Resident Fellow in 2022.
Graduated from West Virginia University with a bachelor's degree in journalism (1991) and a master's degree in corporate and organizational communication (2002).

Biography

Natalie E. Tennant served as West Virginia's 29th Secretary of State from 2009 to 2017. Throughout her administration, she championed open government and business-friendly initiatives, streamlining the Secretary of State’s Office for efficiency and cost-effectiveness. She is noted for returning $4 million of taxpayer money to general revenue and focusing on government transparency.