Al Schmidt, a Republican former Philly elections official, is named Josh Shapiro’s Pa. secretary of state

Gov.-elect Josh Shapiro has chosen former Philadelphia elections official Al Schmidt to be his administration’s secretary of state.

Shapiro, the Democrat who takes office Jan. 17, announced Thursday that he will nominate Schmidt, the longtime Republican member of the Philadelphia City Commissioners, as Pennsylvania’s top elections administrator. Shapiro described the decision as making good on a campaign promise to appoint a “pro-democracy Secretary of the Commonwealth”; he had also promised to work across the aisle.

“Al will bring an extraordinary level of integrity, determination, and expertise to our Administration – and I know he is ready to continue the hard work of preserving and strengthening our democracy at the Department of State,” Shapiro said in a news release.

Since 2020, elections officials at every level — from secretaries of state down to county elections staff — have become top targets of election deniers, skeptics, and former President Donald Trump. Secretaries of state have taken on a new, more prominent role in reassuring voters that their state’s elections are being conducted freely and fairly.

But the job itself is mostly administrative. The secretary runs the Department of State, which oversees elections and handles broad portions of statewide election infrastructure, such as collecting state candidates’ campaign finance filings, testing and approving election equipment, and certifying final election results. And the Department of State spans much wider than just elections: It also oversees the issuance of almost all professional licenses in the state for careers like medical doctors, barbers, or funeral directors.

» READ MORE: Josh Shapiro is aiming for a reset with Pa.’s Republican legislators

Shapiro’s nomination of Schmidt will go to the state Senate, which must confirm him with a two-thirds vote.

“Having visited counties throughout the commonwealth, big cities and rural counties, speaking to Democratic election administrators and Republican administrators, there’s a lot that we all agree on,” Schmidt said in an interview Wednesday. “And I’m hopeful that everyone can work together to improve elections for voters in Pennsylvania.”

Schmidt has a rare background for Pennsylvania’s top elections official: He’s directly run elections before.

Schmidt was elected in 2011 to the Philadelphia City Commissioners, the three-member board of elections. (One seat is reserved for a minority party; the two others are always won by Democrats.)

Elections administration had long been a wonky topic generally outside the political spotlight, and Schmidt didn’t draw tons of outside attention. As he settled into the job, Schmidt pushed to modernize the office and was known for a focus on collecting data and making the information public. He also investigated discrepancies when he found them, referring cases of possible voter fraud to the District Attorney’s Office.

Then came the 2020 election. Schmidt’s job — and his profile — changed rapidly.

The dramatic expansion of mail voting in that year’s elections was one of the biggest changes to state election law in generations. Elections officials scrambled to build a new election system in just a few months, and the COVID-19 pandemic meant they had to do it in a public health crisis that affected supply chains, staffing, and more.

And the Philadelphia city commissioners had a particular challenge: Trump targeted the city as he attacked Pennsylvania’s electoral system. The constant lies and conspiracy theories undermined public confidence as elections officials were already struggling with mistrust and deep political polarization.

That’s where Schmidt came in. As a longtime Republican, Schmidt was often put in front of the cameras and microphones to defend the city and explain the electoral process.

“Al Schmidt has a proven track record of defending our democracy, protecting voting rights, and standing up to extremism – even in the face of grave threats – and I am proud to nominate him,” Shapiro said in a news release.

» READ MORE: What the Jan. 6 report says about Doug Mastriano, Scott Perry, and other key Pa. Republicans

But stepping up to defend Philly’s elections made Schmidt a target, too. Elections officials across the state and country have received threats, abuse, and harassment. When Trump went after Schmidt directly in a tweet, Schmidt’s fellow Republicans stood by silently. The threats became much more graphic and specific after the tweet, Schmidt testified to the congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Schmidt became a go-to resource for journalists, activists, and other elections officials. He left the commissioners last January to become CEO of the Philadelphia-based good-government group Committee of Seventy, a post he will leave to join Shapiro.

Schmidt said his goal as secretary of state would be to advance Shapiro’s agenda, which he believes would “strengthen our democracy and improve the experience for voters.”

This is even more crucial ahead of the 2024 election, for which Trump has already announced his presidential run. And the doubt Trump and his followers sowed in voters won’t be going away any time soon.

For years, Schmidt and top county elections officials across the state have been pressing for the state legislature to allow counties to begin processing mail ballots before Election Day. Current state law does not allow counties to begin to open mail ballot envelopes until 7 a.m. on Election Day, a painstaking process that slows the reporting of election results. He said he’d continue that advocacy.

As secretary of state, Schmidt would be in a job GOP state lawmakers have vilified in recent years.

“It’s important to understand that people have questions about elections, that those questions are answered respectfully and not dismissed, and everyone is treated with respect,” Schmidt said.

» READ MORE: Mark Rozzi, a Democrat-turned-independent, is now speaker of the Pa. House after a surprise vote

County elections officials have urged lawmakers to pass any major changes to election law as soon as possible to avoid any voter confusion during a major election like in 2024. But such action is even more unlikely while the legislature reaches new levels of dysfunction: As of Thursday morning, it’s still unclear which party actually controls the state House, after the new speaker announced Tuesday that he would be the state’s first independent speaker.

Administration, not policy-making, will be Schmidt’s main day-to-day work: He’ll have to run a large bureaucracy that oversees elections but doesn’t directly run them. He said that background is key, noting he’s actually run elections in Pennsylvania for 10 years for the state’s most populous county.

“So frequently you hear about the partnership between the Department of State and counties, and it’s important that that’s sincere, that it’s real, and you hear what the counties have to say, whether they’re big cities or rural counties,” Schmidt said.

The 67 counties run elections, and their relationships with the state have been complex and at times fraught in recent years. County elections officials often complain that the Department of State doesn’t consider their needs — or even ask them — before mandating changes. And in election administration, even seemingly small things can have big or at least unforeseen impacts, and officials regularly say that they wish the state would just talk to them more.

Schmidt said he’ll listen to the county elections officials.

“An important attribute here is knowing what the counties deal with, and having experienced that for 10 years, and knowing the sort of support that’s needed from the Department of State and the partnership that is necessary to make sure elections run smoothly in Pennsylvania,” he told The Inquirer.

Some of that support comes in the form of legal guidance, which some county officials, especially Republican ones, have come to see as increasingly aggressive and liberal in the last three years. (“I have lost all trust with this administration,” one county elections official said days before last November’s midterm elections. “Do not listen to guidance unless it’s backed by statute.”)

The department also runs the state’s voter registration database. While counties are responsible for the actual work of processing the paperwork, the department manages the paper and online forms for registering to vote and applying to vote by mail.

“Not everything the Department of State does is required by law,” Schmidt said in an interview in October. “But if you are interested in voter access and interested in election integrity, it’s still important for the Department of State to provide those services nevertheless.”

The secretary of state’s salary – $165,341 annually – is set by state law.

Regardless of any big policy changes, Schmidt will have a formidable task of doing the everyday work of running the state agency overseeing elections. And the ability to support smooth-running elections, even without sweeping changes, would itself be an important, if unsexy, victory for elections officials.

Schmidt had already become the face of Pennsylvania elections. Now he’ll go back to helping run them.

Get ready to see more of him on your TV.