Paul Danny Pate Jr. (born May 1, 1958) is an American businessman and politician serving as the 32nd Secretary of State of Iowa since 2015, previously holding the office from 1995 to 1999.

He has been recognized as Iowa Young Entrepreneur of the Year by the U.S. Small Business Administration, with a Blue Chip Award by the United States Chamber of Commerce, and an Outstanding Community Leader by The Des Moines Register.

[15] Pate defeated Anderson 49% to 47%, returning to the office of Iowa Secretary of State 20 years after he was first elected to the position.

[16] Upon returning to the Secretary of State's office, Pate set out to institute a Safe at Home program in Iowa.

Safe at Home is an address confidentiality program for survivors of domestic violence, sexual abuse, trafficking and stalking.

The bill passed both chambers of the Iowa Legislature unanimously and was signed into law by Governor Terry Branstad in May 2015.

[18] Google awarded Secretary Pate in July 2015 for his efforts to increase voter participation in Iowa.

[28] Pate was the recipient of the Election Center's 2018 Professional Practice State Award for his office's training materials for poll workers.

[30] Paul Pate was reelected as Iowa's Secretary of State in November 2018, defeating Democratic challenger Deidre DeJear by eight points.

[32] Pate was also recognized by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission for a "Clearie" Award for his efforts to help veterans and Iowans with disabilities vote.

[33] The National Association of Secretaries of State unanimously chose Paul Pate to be their President during the organization's 2019 summer conference.

Through bureaucratic error, Pate did not initiate this process, causing two constitutional amendment proposals which were passed by the 87th Iowa Legislature in 2018 to effectively be pocket vetoed.