| Post: | Secretary |
| Body: | the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania |
| Insignia: | Seal of the Secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.svg |
| Insigniacaption: | Seal of the Secretary of the Commonwealth |
| Incumbent: | Al Schmidt[1] |
| Department: | Pennsylvania Department of State |
| Type: | Secretary |
| Appointer: | Governor |
| Formation: | 1777 |
| First: | Timothy Matlack |
| Website: | Official website |
The secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (or "secretary of state") administers the Pennsylvania Department of State of the U.S. state (officially, "commonwealth") of Pennsylvania.
The secretary is appointed by the governor subject to confirmation by the state senate.[2] Since June 2023, the secretary is Al Schmidt, a Republican appointed by Governor Josh Shapiro.[3]
The department protects the public's health, safety, and welfare by licensing more than one million business, health, and real estate professionals; maintaining registration and financial information for thousands of charities soliciting contributions from Pennsylvanians; overseeing Pennsylvania's electoral process; maintaining corporate filings; and sanctioning professional boxing, kick–boxing and wrestling in the commonwealth. Unlike many other states which elect the secretary of state, in Pennsylvania, this position is appointed by the governor with the advice and consent of the Pennsylvania Senate.
The secretary is the keeper of the Great Seal of the Commonwealth and authenticates government documents through the seal's use. The secretary is also the commonwealth's chief election official.
| Image | Name | Dates served | Appointed by | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Timothy Matlack | 1777–1783 | Thomas Wharton Jr. | ||
| John Armstrong, Jr. | 1783–1787 | John Dickinson | ||
| Charles Biddle | 1787–1791 | Benjamin Franklin | ||
| Alexander J. Dallas | 1791–1801 | Thomas Mifflin | ||
| Thomas McKean Thompson | 1801–1808 | Thomas McKean | ||
| Nathaniel B. Boileau | 1808–1817 | Simon Snyder | ||
| Thomas Sergeant | 1817–1819 | William Findlay | ||
| Samuel D. Ingham | 1819–1820 | |||
| Andrew Gregg | 1820–1823 | Joseph Hiester | ||
| Molton C. Rogers | 1823–1826 | John Andrew Shulze | ||
| Isaac D. Barnard | 1826–1827 | |||
| Calvin Blythe | 1827–1829 | |||
| Samuel McKean | 1829–1833 | George Wolf | ||
| James Findley | 1833–1835 | |||
| Thomas Henry Burrowes | 1835–1839 | Joseph Ritner | ||
| Francis R. Shunk | 1839–1842 | David R. Porter | ||
| Anson V. Parsons | 1842–1843 | |||
| Charles McClure | 1843–1845 | |||
| Jesse Miller | 1845–1848 | Francis R. Shunk | ||
| Townsend Haines | 1848–1850 | William F. Johnston | ||
| Alexander L. Russel | 1850–1852 | |||
| Francis W. Hughes | 1852–1853 | William Bigler | ||
| Charles A Black | 1853–1855 | |||
| Andrew Gregg Curtin | 1855–1858 | James Pollock | ||
| William M. Heister | 1858–1861 | William F. Packer | ||
| Eli Slifer | 1861–1867 | Andrew Gregg Curtin | ||
| Francis Jordan | 1867–1873 | John W. Geary | ||
| Matthew S. Quay | 1873–1878 | John F. Hartranft | ||
| John Blair Linn | 1878–1879 | |||
| Matthew S. Quay | 1879–1882 | Henry M. Hoyt | ||
| Francis Jordan | 1882–1883 | |||
| William S. Stenger | 1883–1887 | Robert E. Pattison | ||
| Charles Warren Stone | 1887–1890 | James A. Beaver | ||
| Jacob H. Longnecker | 1890–1891 | |||
| 60px | William F. Harrity | 1891–1895 | Robert E. Pattison | |
| Frank Reeder | 1895–1897 | Daniel H. Hastings | ||
| David Martin | 1897–1899 | |||
| William Walton Griest | 1899–1903 | William A. Stone | ||
| Frank M. Fuller | 1903–1905 | Samuel W. Pennypacker | ||
| Robert B. McAfee | 1905–1915 | |||
| Cyrus Woods | 1915–1921 | Martin Grove Brumbaugh | ||
| Bernard J. Myers | 1921–1923 | William Cameron Sproul | ||
| Clyde L. King | 1923–1926 | |||
| E. H. Conarroe | 1926–1927 | |||
| Charles Johnson | 1927–1929 | |||
| Robert R. Lewis | 1929–1930 | |||
| James Walker | 1930–1931 | |||
| Richard J. Beamish | 1931–1934 | Gifford Pinchot | ||
| John J. Owen | 1934–1935 | |||
| David L. Lawrence | 1935–1939 | George Earle | ||
| Sophia O'Hara | 1939–1943 | Arthur James | ||
| Charles M. Morrison | 1943–1949 | Edward Martin | ||
| Gene D. Smith | 1949–1955 | James H. Duff | ||
| James A. Finnegan | 1955 | Edward Martin | ||
| Henry Harner | 1955–1956 | George M. Leader | ||
| James A. Finnegan | 1956–1958 | |||
| John S. Rice | 1958–1961 | |||
| E. James Trimarchi | 1961–1963 | David L. Lawrence | ||
| George I. Bloom | 1963–1965 | William Scranton | ||
| W. Stuart Helm | 1965–1967 | |||
| Craig Truax | 1967–1968 | Raymond P. Shafer | ||
| Joseph J. Kelley | 1968–1971 | |||
| C. Delores Tucker | 1971–1977 | Milton Shapp | ||
| James D. Golden | 1977 | |||
| Barton A. Fields | 1977–1979 | |||
| Ethel D. Allen | 1979 | Dick Thornburgh | ||
| William R. Davis | 1979–1985 | |||
| Richard E. Anderson | 1985 | |||
| Robert A Gleason, Jr. | 1985–1987 | |||
| James J. Haggerty | 1987–1989 | Bob Casey Sr. | ||
| Christopher A. Lewis | 1989–1991 | |||
| Brenda K. Mitchell | 1992–1994 | |||
| Robert N. Grant | 1994–1995 | |||
| Yvette Kane | 1995–1998 | Tom Ridge | ||
| Kim Pizzingrilli | 1999–2002 | |||
| C. Michael Weaver | 2002–2003 | Mark Schweiker | ||
| Pedro Cortés | 2003–2010 | Ed Rendell | ||
| Basil L. Merenda | 2010–2011 | |||
| Carol Aichele | 2011–2015 | Tom Corbett | ||
| Pedro Cortés | 2015–2017 | Tom Wolf | ||
| Robert Torres | 2017–2019 | |||
| Kathy Boockvar | 2019–2021 | |||
| Veronica Degraffenreid (acting) | 2021–2022 | |||
| Leigh M. Chapman (acting) | 2022–2023 | |||
| Al Schmidt | 2023–present | Josh Shapiro |
The Pennsylvania Department of State consists of six bureaus: [4]