Al Schmidt
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2023}}{{Use American English|date=June 2023}}
{{short description|Secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Al Schmidt
| image = Al Schmidt.jpg
| office = 82nd Secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
| governor = Josh Shapiro
| term_start = January 17, 2023
Acting: January 17, 2023 – June 29, 2023
| term_end =
| predecessor = Leigh M. Chapman (Acting)
| successor =
| office1 = City Commissioner of Philadelphia
| term_start1 = January 2, 2012
| predecessor1 = Joseph Duda
| successor1 = Seth Bluestein
| birth_date = {{circa|1972}}
| birth_place = Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
| death_date =
| death_place =
| party = Republican
| spouse = Erin
| children = 3
| education = Allegheny College (BA)
Brandeis University (MA, PhD)
| awards = Presidential Citizens Medal (2023)
}}
Albert Schmidt{{cite AV media |date= January 6, 2023 |title=WATCH LIVE: President Biden awards 12 Citizens Medals on Jan. 6 anniversary |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-c_P1s-DYo&t=1741s |access-date=January 7, 2023 |time=41:37 |publisher=PBS NewsHour }} (born {{circa|1972}}{{cite news |last1=Prose |first1=J.D. |title=Al Schmidt, Shapiro's pick for secretary of state, to receive Presidential Citizens Medal |url=https://www.pennlive.com/news/2023/01/al-schmidt-shapiros-pick-for-secretary-of-state-to-receive-presidential-citizens-medal.html |access-date=January 8, 2023 |work=PennLIVE Patriot-News |publisher=Advance Local Media LLC |date=January 5, 2023}}) 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.{{Cite news |last=Cameron |first=Chris |date=2022-06-13 |title=Al Schmidt: A Philadelphia Republican who continued counting votes as Trump's pressure mounted. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/13/us/al-schmidt-jan-6-hearing-witness.html |access-date=2023-03-31 |issn=0362-4331}} Schmidt provided testimony before the January 6 Committee in 2022. He was chosen to serve as Secretary of the Commonwealth by Governor Josh Shapiro.{{Cite web |last=Montellaro |first=Zach |date=2023-01-05 |title=Pennsylvania's new Dem governor nominates Republican Schmidt to run state elections |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2023/01/05/pennsylvania-josh-shapiro-al-schmidt-00076431 |access-date=2023-03-31 |website=POLITICO |language=en}}
Early life and background
A native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Schmidt graduated from Allegheny College with a Bachelor of Arts in history, and from Brandeis University with a Doctor of Philosophy in history. He served as an analyst for the Presidential Advisory Commission on Holocaust Assets in the United States (1999-2001) and the Government Accountability Office (2001-2006).{{cite news |last=Prihar |first=Asha |date= |title=10 things to know about Al Schmidt, the former city commissioner tapped for Pa. secretary of state |url=https://billypenn.com/2023/01/06/al-schmidt-shapiro-secretary-of-state/ |work=BillyPenn}}
Political career
File:P20230106AS-1884 (52644829366).jpg from president Joe Biden in January 2023]]
Schmidt moved to Philadelphia in 2005, and served as executive director of the Philadelphia Republican City Committee before stepping down in 2009 for an unsuccessful run for City Controller against Democratic incumbent Alan Butkovitz.
=City Commissioner=
Schmidt was first elected as a Philadelphia City Commissioner in 2011, becoming the only Republican on the three-member municipal election board by winning the one seat reserved for a member who is not part of the majority political party in Philadelphia after he defeated the incumbent minority commissioner, Joseph Duda.{{cite news |last=Brennan |first=Chris |date=November 30, 2021 |title=Republican Philly elections official who was target of Trump's attacks is resigning |url=https://www.inquirer.com/politics/philadelphia/city-commissioner-al-schmidt-resigning-president-committee-70-20211130.html |work=Philadelphia Inquirer}}{{cite news |last1=Meyer |first1=Katie |title=Philly's only Republican city commissioner leaving to take over good government group |url=https://whyy.org/articles/phillys-only-republican-city-commissioner-leaving-to-take-over-good-government-group/ |access-date=23 February 2024 |work=WHYY-FM |date=November 30, 2021}} He was re-elected in 2015 and 2019.
Schmidt refused to cooperate with the attempts to overturn the 2020 United States presidential election by publicly refuting claims of voter fraud and resisting calls from within his own party to stop counting mail-in ballots.{{cite news|last=Verini|first=James|date=December 16, 2020|title=He Wanted to Count Every Vote in Philadelphia. His Party Had Other Ideas.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/16/magazine/trump-election-philadelphia-republican.html |work=New York Times}} He called some of President Donald Trump's claims "fantastical" and "completely ridiculous allegations that have no basis in fact at all."{{Cite news |url=https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2020/11/14/election-2020-gop-officials-swing-states-shoot-down-trump-fraud-claims/6271421002/ |title=Trump says the battleground states saw election fraud. Republican officials running those states disagree. |first=Savannah |last=Behrmann |work=USA Today |date=November 14, 2020 |access-date=November 15, 2020 |archive-date=November 16, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201116035405/https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2020/11/14/election-2020-gop-officials-swing-states-shoot-down-trump-fraud-claims/6271421002/ |url-status=live }}
On November 11, 2020, Trump directly attacked Schmidt on Twitter by claiming he "refuses to look at a mountain of corruption & dishonesty" in Philadelphia.{{cite news|last=Kanik|first=Hannah|date=November 11, 2020|title=Trump aims Twitter ire at Commissioner Al Schmidt with claim he ignored voter fraud in Philly|url=https://www.phillyvoice.com/donald-trump-twitter-al-schmidt-commissioner-false-voter-fraud-allegations/|work=Philly Voice}} After Trump's tweet, Schmidt testified that "my wife and I received threats that named our children, included my home address and images of my home, and threated [sic] to put their 'heads on spikes.'"{{cite news |last=Epstein |first=Reid |date=January 5, 2023 |title=Republican Who Rebuffed Trump Is Democrat's Pick for Pennsylvania Election Post |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/05/us/politics/pennsylvania-elections-secretary-of-commonwealth.html|work=New York Times}}
In late November 2021, Schmidt announced he would resign as a City Commissioner to become president and CEO of the Committee of Seventy, a nonpartisan, pro-democracy Philadelphia-based nonprofit group.{{Cite web |last=Smith |first=Allan |date=January 5, 2023 |title=Josh Shapiro taps a Republican who stood up to Trump to be Pennsylvania's top elections official |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/josh-shapiro-taps-al-schmidt-pennsylvanias-elections-chief-rcna64334 |access-date=January 5, 2023 |website=NBC News |language=en}} On June 13, 2022, Schmidt testified before the January 6 Committee, detailing the threats against him and his family as well as addressing claims of voter fraud in Philadelphia during the 2020 election.{{cite news |last=Grabenstein |first=Hannah |date=June 13, 2022 |title=Who is Al Schmidt and why did he testify in the Jan. 6 hearings?|url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/who-is-al-schmidt-and-why-did-he-testify-in-the-jan-6-hearings|work=PBS NewsHour}}
=Secretary of the Commonwealth=
On January 5, 2023, Schmidt was named by Pennsylvania Governor-elect Josh Shapiro as the Secretary-designate of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The following day, on January 6, 2023, Schmidt was awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal by President Joe Biden for demonstrating "courage and selflessness" in opposing efforts to overturn the 2020 election as a City Commissioner.{{Cite news |last=Hooper |first=Kelly |title=Biden to award Presidential Citizens Medal to several Jan. 6 heroes |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2023/01/05/biden-awards-presidential-citizens-medal-to-several-jan-6-heroes-00076550 |access-date=January 6, 2023 |work=Politico |date=January 5, 2023 |language=en}}{{Cite news |last=Tamari |first=Jonathan |title=Ex-Philly elections official Al Schmidt is getting a medal from Joe Biden |url=https://www.inquirer.com/politics/philadelphia/al-schmidt-biden-presidential-medal-jan-6-20230105.html |date=January 5, 2023 |access-date=January 6, 2023 |work=The Philadelphia Inquirer |language=en}} Schmidt automatically became full Secretary on June 29 after the Pennsylvania State Senate failed to act within the constitutionally prescribed 25-legislative-day period to confirm his nomination.{{cite news |last1=McGoldrick |first1=Gillian |title=Al Schmidt, Philly's former top Republican elections official, is now officially Pa. secretary of state |url=https://www.inquirer.com/politics/pennsylvania/al-schmidt-secretary-of-state-elections-20230629.html |access-date=29 June 2023 |work=The Philadelphia Inquirer |date=June 29, 2023}}
In January 2024, Schmidt ordered a court-appointed special master to demand $711,000 in legal reimbursements from the government of Fulton County stemming from a case where Fulton County's Republican commissioners improperly allowed a Trump-affiliated lawyer access to the county's voting machines in order to aid the attempted reversal of Trump's defeat in Pennsylvania.{{cite news |last1=Scoloforo |first1=Mark |title=Pennsylvania seeks legal costs from county that let outsiders access voting machines to help Trump |url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/pennsylvania-seeks-legal-costs-county-outsiders-access-voting-107493436 |access-date=23 February 2024 |work=ABC News |agency=The Associated Press |date=February 23, 2024}}
In February 2024, Shapiro tapped Schmidt to head Pennsylvania's Election Threats Task Force. Ahead of the 2024 elections, the newly created task force will operate as a collaborative effort between both federal and state law enforcement and administration officials working to combat election misinformation and threats against election workers.{{cite news |last1=Edelman |first1=Adam |title=Pennsylvania governor unveils election security task force to mitigate threats to the 2024 vote |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/pennsylvania-election-security-task-force-rcna141024 |access-date=29 February 2024 |work=NBC News |date=February 29, 2024}}
References
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External links
- {{C-SPAN}}
- {{IMDb name}}
- [https://www.dos.pa.gov/about-us/Pages/Secretary-of-the-Commonwealth.aspx Pennsylvania Department of State profile]
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{{s-bef|before=Leigh M. Chapman
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{{s-ttl|title=Secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania|years=2023–present}}
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{{Pennsylvania statewide political officials}}
{{U.S. State Secretaries of State}}
{{Shapiro cabinet}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schmidt, Al}}
Category:21st-century American businesspeople
Category:21st-century Pennsylvania politicians
Category:Allegheny College alumni
Category:American nonprofit chief executives
Category:Brandeis University alumni
Category:Businesspeople from Philadelphia
Category:Pennsylvania Republicans
Category:Philadelphia City Commissioners