Her work as Secretary of State, particularly regarding audits, raises the question as to whether the position should actually be tied to any political party.

The suspicious on one end of the spectrum will blame Democratic sycophancy for Brown's failure to provide the audits that Atkins did during her short term and now that a Republican has been elected to the post, any new audits he performs will be blamed on "politics" by the other end of the spectrum.

Unfortunately, total independence from  "politics" is not possible.  From Federal Judgeships to LTD here in Lane County, even supposedly  'non-partisan' jobs only get filled by politicians with their own agendas.