Incoming Governor Josh Shapiro is nominating a Republican election official from Philadelphia to be the next Pennsylvania Secretary of State.
Al Schmidt was named as the candidate to lead the Department of State. He had served as a city commissioner in Philadelphia and became noted for his role in defending the election results of 2020.
Shapiro said in a statement that Schmidt “has a proven track record of defending our democracy, protecting voting rights, and standing up to extremism.”
Schmidt’s nomination will now go before the State Senate, where he’ll need approval from two-thirds of the body.
