Al Schmidt

Political Party: Republican

Current Position: Secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

Albert Schmidt was born on July 29, 1971, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He is a career public servant with extensive experience in election administration and government reform. Schmidt moved to Philadelphia in 2005 when his wife, who grew up in Northeast Philadelphia, obtained a position at a city law firm.

Schmidt is known for his work in nonpartisan and bipartisan environments throughout his career. He was appointed as Acting Secretary of the Commonwealth on January 17, 2023, by Governor Josh Shapiro, and officially became Secretary on June 29, 2023.

Education

Schmidt holds a doctorate in history from Brandeis University and a bachelor's degree in history from Allegheny College, where he studied in his native western Pennsylvania.

Political Experience

*Philadelphia City Commissioner *

Schmidt served for 10 years as a Philadelphia City Commissioner, where he was vice chairman of the three-member bipartisan Board of Elections. During this tenure, he improved government transparency, investigated voting irregularities, and modernized Philadelphia's elections. He also served on the board of the Philadelphia Parking Authority beginning in 2012.

*Committee of Seventy *

Before his appointment as Secretary of the Commonwealth, Schmidt served as president and chief executive officer of the Committee of Seventy, a nonprofit, nonpartisan good-government organization focused on strengthening democracy and combatting political corruption.

U.S. Government Accountability Office

Earlier in his career, Schmidt worked as a senior performance analyst at the nonpartisan U.S. Government Accountability Office, where he conducted performance audits of federal programs on behalf of Democratic and Republican members of Congress. He also previously served as a policy analyst for the Presidential Commission on Holocaust Assets in the United States.

Notable Achievements as Secretary of the Commonwealth

Since taking office, Schmidt has directed multiple significant initiatives, including overseeing a secure 2024 presidential election in Pennsylvania with the highest voter turnout in almost 50 years, implementing Automatic Voter Registration for eligible residents obtaining driver licenses and ID cards, updating election-related guidance to improve uniformity across counties, and redesigning mail ballot materials to reduce rejection rates. Additionally, he has slashed corporate registration waiting times from 8 weeks to 2–3 days and reduced professional and occupational license processing times by over 50%.