Al Schmidt

Al Schmidt
82nd Secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 17, 2023
Acting: January 17, 2023 – June 29, 2023
GovernorJosh Shapiro
Preceded byLeigh M. Chapman (Acting)
City Commissioner of Philadelphia
In office
January 2, 2012 – January 2, 2022[1]
Preceded byJoseph Duda
Succeeded bySeth Bluestein
Personal details
Bornc. 1972
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
SpouseErin
Children3
EducationAllegheny College (BA)
Brandeis University (MA, PhD)
AwardsPresidential Citizens Medal (2023)

Albert Schmidt[2] (born c. 1972[3]) is an American politician and election official who is the current Secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, serving since 2023. He was a Philadelphia City Commissioner from 2012 to 2022.

A member of the Republican Party, Schmidt refused to cooperate with efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, which led him to be publicly attacked by then-President Donald Trump on Twitter.[4][5] Schmidt provided testimony before the January 6 Committee in 2022.[6] He was chosen to serve as Secretary of the Commonwealth by Governor Josh Shapiro.[7]

  1. ^ Brennan, Chris (November 30, 2021). "Republican Philly elections official who was target of Trump's attacks is resigning". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved February 23, 2024.
  2. ^ WATCH LIVE: President Biden awards 12 Citizens Medals on Jan. 6 anniversary. PBS NewsHour. January 6, 2023. Event occurs at 41:37. Retrieved January 7, 2023.
  3. ^ Prose, J.D. (January 5, 2023). "Al Schmidt, Shapiro's pick for secretary of state, to receive Presidential Citizens Medal". PennLIVE Patriot-News. Advance Local Media LLC. Retrieved January 8, 2023.
  4. ^ Cameron, Chris (June 13, 2022). "Al Schmidt: A Philadelphia Republican who continued counting votes as Trump's pressure mounted". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 31, 2023.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Kanik was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Grabenstein was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Montellaro, Zach (January 5, 2023). "Pennsylvania's new Dem governor nominates Republican Schmidt to run state elections". POLITICO. Retrieved March 31, 2023.