Al Schmidt Won’t Remove Donald Trump From Pennsylvania Ballot

Pennsylvania Department of State head Al Schmidt, who says he can’t keep Donald Trump off the 2024 Pennsylvania ballot, in 2020 as Trump supporters came to Philadelphia in protest (Getty Images)

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Al Schmidt Won’t Remove Donald Trump From Pennsylvania Ballot

Above is a photo of Al Schmidt on November 6, 2020. That’s when Philadelphia continued to count the unprecedented number of mail-in votes in the presidential election. Those were fun times.

Joe Biden won. Donald Trump claimed — and still claims, completely and utterly falsely — that he actually won. Trump declared Philadelphia an epicenter of massive voter fraud. And City Commissioner Schmidt, who is a Republican, was one of three officials in charge of the Philadelphia election.

Trump supporters came to Philadelphia to “protect the vote.” Schmidt and his children were the victims of vile threats, as he explained to me in this January 2021 interview. That’s when he announced he was leaving the office.

Today, Al Schmidt is the Secretary of the Commonwealth. That’s a fancier way to say he’s the head of Pennsylvania’s Department of State.

Al Schmidt in his official Commonwealth of Pennsylvania photo

One of the Department of State’s key roles is to oversee all elections in Pennsylvania. And Pennsylvania is, once again, expected to be hugely pivotal in the outcome of the 2024 presidential election. So it’s going to be quite the interesting year for Schmidt.

Efforts are underway in some of these United States to kick Donald Trump off the Republican primary ballot. The legal argument involves a rarely talked-about section of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that says an insurrectionist is disqualified from running for federal or state office. And, well, there’s Trump and January 6th to consider.

The Colorado Supreme Court already barred Trump from appearing on that state’s ballot, using that argument. The Maine Secretary of State took it upon herself to unilaterally yank him from the ballot there. And there have been numerous lawsuits around the country challenging Trump’s candidacy. Trump is fighting these efforts. The U.S. Supreme Court is now involved.

So what about the Pennsylvania ballot? Will Donald Trump appear on it? There have been some individual lawsuits filed in Pennsylvania to try to keep Trump off the ballot, but they haven’t gone much of anywhere. So could Schmidt take a page out of the book of his Maine counterpart and just kick Trump off the Pennsylvania ballot?

The answer is no. In late December, Schmidt was actually in the process of preparing a motion to dismiss a lawsuit challenging Trump’s appearance on the Pennsylvania ballot when the plaintiff — who didn’t respond to a request for comment — voluntarily withdrew his suit for reasons unknown. And as for pulling a Maine on Trump here in Pennsylvania, Schmidt had this to say in a statement to Philly Mag: “Pennsylvania’s Election Code does not give me, as Secretary of the Commonwealth, the authority to reject a nomination petition on the grounds that a potential candidate does not meet an office’s eligibility criteria. In Pennsylvania, that is a question that can be answered only by the courts.”

Governor Josh Shapiro, who handpicked Schmidt for the job, recently concurred in an interview with Philly Mag. But he added that it was perfectly clear to him that Trump will be the nominee in Pennsylvania and that the way to defeat him will not be through the courts, but by showing up to vote on Election Day.

The Cherelle Parker Inauguration Festivities Were Not Without Incident

Yes, there was a grand speech at the Met on North Broad Street. Yes, there were dignitaries, socialites, TV stars and rappers galore at the after-party at the Fillmore in Fishtown.

But … there was also a bit of an incident involving Sharif Street Jr., son of Pennsylvania State Senator Sharif Street, who is the son of former Philly mayor John Street. Street Jr. and Grandpa Street were attempting to get into the Met when a confrontation ensued between Street Jr. and security. Police charged Street Jr. with assaulting a guard.

Here’s how the state senator addressed all this on Wednesday afternoon as word eventually got out:

On January 2, 2024, my 80-year-old father, great-grandfather, and former Mayor of Philadelphia John Street was with his grandson, Sharif Street Jr., when a security guard began to engage in confrontation and ultimately an altercation ensued while entering the Met Inauguration. My son, Sharif Street Jr., was protecting his grandfather when the security guard initiated the altercation. I do not condone violence of any kind, but I am certain that any hired personnel need to be firmly trained when handling people of all ages looking to only enjoy an event.

Street Jr. told the Inquirer‘s Chris Brennan that he “just sort of blacked out” during the encounter.

About All Those New Yorkers Supposedly Fleeing to Florida …

It turns out they may actually be moving to the Philly ‘burbs, instead.

Local Talent

We got a local-guys-we-love twofer on Fresh Air this week when Terry Gross did a combo interview with Maestro star Bradley Cooper and Philadelphia Orchestra, well, maestro Yannick Nézet-Séguin. It’s definitely worth a listen.

By the Numbers

2: Minimum number of weeks that a new masking requirement that just went into effect today will last at Main Line Health facilities thanks to an increase in COVID, flu and RSV cases.

$7.25: Minimum wage in Pennsylvania. Yes, still. Yes, more than 22 states — including our neighbors in New Jersey and Delaware — just raised their minimum wages (to $15.13 and $13.25 an hour, respectively, in NJ and DE). And we didn’t.

40 percent: Approximate portion of Pennsylvanians with medical marijuana cards who had those cards approved solely on the basis of an anxiety condition, according to the most recent data.

And from the Sports Desk …

Good news! That distaff Eagles fan who gave voice to a city’s frustration was tracked down by CBS News. Her name is Jasmine Jones, and she speaks for us all. We could add to the chorus of accusations, excuses and counter-excuses that’s enveloped our once-mighty Birds here at season’s end, but you know, why should we? They’ll speak for themselves at Sunday afternoon’s game against the Giants. Yep, the Giants. Again.

Speaking of Sunday’s football games, guess what?

The #Rams will start Carson Wentz at QB Sunday against the #49ers, sources say. Sean McVay gives Matthew Stafford a breather before the postseason while Wentz gets his first start in just over a calendar year. pic.twitter.com/iaVM2xJFI8

— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) January 3, 2024

And six Iggles are heading to the Pro Bowl. Can you guess who they are without clicking on the Inky link? Meanwhile, on the Sixers front, never is heard a discouraging word:

Joel Embiid can miss a maximum of just 10 more games this season to remain eligible for MVP and all awards.

He was asked about it by @MrUram pic.twitter.com/5Np3HX1BCI

— SPORTSRADIO 94WIP (@SportsRadioWIP) January 3, 2024

We believe, Joel, we believe!

By the way, guess who read the Matt Gelb article on Charlie Manuel that we mentioned here yesterday?

Matt Gelb is a hell of a writer. His article about made me cry. All I’ve got to say is I love everybody. Thank you Matt. https://t.co/zFEPDZ8RkX

— Charlie Manuel (@CMBaseball41) January 3, 2024

Any College Hoops News?

You’re darn tootin’. George Mason came courting at La Salle, and though the Explorers led at the half, they cooled considerably in the late going and lost, 77-62. The hosting Rhode Island Rams chased St. Joe’s Hawks all night, finally caught up with four minutes to go, and won a heartbreaker, 78-74.

And in their Big East opener, it was the Xavier Musketeers vs. the Villanova Wildcats, who were still missing guard Justin Moore. The ‘Cats hovered in front the whole time but never broke it wide open and were clinging to a one-point lead with 1:24 to go. After a gorgeous Jordan Longino block, a controversial (and reviewed and reversed) out-of-bounds call under the ‘Nova basket gave the ball to the Musketeers with 20 seconds left, but Desmond Claude’s layup missed, Eric Dixon hit two foul shots and then missed two, and the Wildcats clung, just barely, to a 66-65 win.

Two games are in the works tonight: Temple at South Florida and UNC-Wilmington at Drexel, both tipping off at 7 p.m.

All Philly Today Sports Coverage is provided by Sandy Hingston.