Pennsylvania’s incoming Democratic governor, Josh Shapiro, will nominate a Philadelphia Republican who resisted Donald J. Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election outcomes to function the state’s chief election official, Mr. Shapiro stated Thursday.

For Mr. Shapiro, who will probably be sworn into workplace on Jan. 17, his alternative for secretary of the commonwealth represents each an olive department to reasonable Republicans and a public affirmation of perception within the state’s election methods. Al Schmidt, Mr. Shapiro’s decide for the job, is a former Philadelphia metropolis commissioner and longtime political determine.

“Al Schmidt has a confirmed observe report of defending our democracy, defending voting rights and standing as much as extremism — even within the face of grave threats,” Mr. Shapiro stated in an announcement launched by his workplace. “I do know he is able to proceed the arduous work of preserving and strengthening our democracy.”

For a decade, Mr. Schmidt, 51, held the Republican-designated seat on Philadelphia’s three-member metropolis fee, which oversees municipal elections. He additionally served as government director of the Philadelphia G.O.P. and as a senior adviser to the Republican Celebration of Pennsylvania.

Nonetheless, Mr. Schmidt was comparatively unknown outdoors Philadelphia till Mr. Trump, after the 2020 election, utilized public stress on him to cease counting absentee ballots. In 2021, Mr. Schmidt testified to the Senate that Mr. Trump’s feedback had led to loss of life threats that he stated have been supposed to “intimidate and coerce us into not counting each legitimate vote.”

“After the president tweeted about me, my spouse and I obtained threats that named our youngsters, included my house deal with and pictures of my house, and threated to place their ‘heads on spikes,’” Mr. Schmidt stated. “What was as soon as a reasonably obscure administrative job is now one the place lunatics are threatening to homicide your kids.”

Final summer time, Mr. Schmidt appeared earlier than the Home committee investigating the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol and revealed written threats obtained by members of his household from Mr. Trump’s supporters, together with one which learn “Heads on spikes. Treasonous Schmidts.”

Mr. Schmidt stated within the assertion launched by Mr. Shapiro’s workplace that he would work to make sure that elections “stay free and truthful right here in Pennsylvania, and that we do extra to make sure each eligible voter could make their voice heard.”

Mr. Schmidt, whose nomination will should be confirmed by the Republican-controlled State Senate, is the primary cupboard appointment introduced by Mr. Shapiro since November, when he defeated Doug Mastriano, a Republican and outstanding election denier. Mr. Mastriano, a retired Military colonel, chartered buses to Washington for the Jan. 6, 2021, rally that led to the assault on the Capitol; he campaigned on a platform of proscribing poll entry in Pennsylvania.

In an interview final month, Mr. Shapiro stated he hoped that Republicans within the Pennsylvania legislature would agree to vary the state’s legislation that forbids the processing of absentee ballots and early votes earlier than Election Day. The poll procedures, which may drag out the counting, helped gas the Trump-inspired threats towards Mr. Schmidt.

He additionally described the function for which he ultimately nominated Mr. Schmidt.

“I’m going to nominate a pro-democracy secretary of state,” he stated within the interview. “We’ll respect the desire of the individuals, certify the winners, whether or not we agree with the decide or not. That’s going to be my cost to my secretary of state.”