Former Republican Philadelphia election official Al Schmidt will be nominated by Governor-elect Josh Shapiro for Pennsylvania’s secretary of state position, according to a staff report from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

The nomination is setting Schmidt up to oversee the 2024 election which is expected to be a hard-fought one in the critical presidential battleground state. Schmidt endured multiple death threats after defending Philadelphia’s 2020 vote counting against former President Donald Trump’s false claims of election fraud.

Shapiro has made protecting elections central to his campaign. At the time, he emphasized his plan to nominate a “pro-Democracy” secretary of state if elected.

“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,” said Shapiro.

Schmidt, who is currently president and CEO of the Committee of Seventy, fits in Shapiro’s intention to form a bipartisan administration in politically divided Pennsylvania.

Schmidt was also one of the twelve people awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal by President Joe Biden last Friday at the White House. He is being recognized for not backing down under public pressure by Trump and his supporters to stop counting valid ballots.

Read more about Al Schmidt in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.