This Dem Governor Just Selected a Republican for Top State Elections Job
Pennsylvania Gov.-elect Josh Shapiro said he’d selected Republican—and onetime Trump punching bag—Al Schmidt as commonwealth secretary, the state’s top elections post.
Spencer Platt/Getty
In an announcement on Thursday, Democratic Pennsylvania Gov.-elect Josh Shapiro said he’d selected Republican Al Schmidt as commonwealth secretary—the state’s highest elections post. Schmidt, who was the only GOP election official on Philadelphia’s elections board to defy Trump when he tried to subvert the city’s mail-in ballot counts, faced a number of threats after the former president called him out by name. Trump tweeted on Nov. 11, 2020, that Schmidt “refuses to look at a mountain of corruption & dishonesty” without offering much in the way of evidence to back up his claims. “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 to be Pennsylvania’s next Secretary of the Commonwealth,” Shapiro said in his announcement.
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.
— Josh Shapiro (@JoshShapiroPA) January 5, 2023
I know he'll continue the hard work of preserving and strengthening our democracy as my Secretary of the Commonwealth. pic.twitter.com/OpZOvNLwFc
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