Philadelphia City Commissioners

The Philadelphia City Commissioners are three officials responsible for administering voter registration and conducting elections for Philadelphia County.[1]

The office was created to replace the Philadelphia County Commissioners following the consolidation of the city and county in 1854. While subject to the Home Rule Charter, the commissioners are considered county officials and do not report to council or the mayor.

The board has three members, all popularly elected every four years by the voters of Philadelphia.[2] No political party can have more than two seats on the board. For the last half-century the guaranteed minority seat has gone to the Republican Party.

Current members

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Name Year first elected Party
Omar Sabir†` 2019 Democratic[3]
Seth Bluestein 2022[note 1] Forward Republican[4]
Lisa M Deeley 2015 Democratic[5]

† Denotes chairperson of the board

  1. ^ Bluestein was confirmed as a City Commissioner in February 2022 to fill the remainder of Al Schmidt's term, which concludes in January 2024.[1]

Historical members

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Commissioners elected under the 1873 Constitution
Election Commissioners
1875 John S. Wetter David Martin Thomas A. Fahy
1878 William S. Douglass John C. McManemin
1881 William Lawson Charles H. Krumbhaar[a]
1884 Charles H. Krumbhaar
1887 William Bartley Theodore B. Stulb John J.P. Sensenderfer
1890
1893 Jacob Wildemore Joseph G. Richmond
1896 Thomas J. Ryan
1899 Hugh Black
1902 Charles P. Donnelly
1905 Howard A. Chase Rudolph Blankenburg[b] Edward A. Anderson[b]
1908 Harry D. Beaston Robert J. Moore Frank J. Gorman[c]
1911 John D. Powers Frank J. Gorman[d]
1915 David S. Scott George F. Holmes[e]
1917[f] Henry Kuenzel
1918[g] James H. Gay
1919 George F. Holmes Edgar W. Lank
1923 John O'Donnell
1927
1931 John F. Dugan James C. Clark
1935 Mortin Witkin John J. Hennessey
1939 Joseph E. Gold
1943 David E. Watson John J. Hennessey
1945[h] Thomas P. McHenry
1947
1951 Walter I. Davidson Maurice S. Osser
1955
1959 Louis Menna
1963
1967 Raymond Chmielewski
May 1971[i] Francis B. Patterson
1971 Louis Menna
1973[j] Eugene E.J. Maier
Feb 1975[k] John F. Kane
1975 Margaret Tartaglione
1979
1983 Marian Tasco
1987 Maurice Floyd
1991 Alexander Z. Talmadge
1995 Joseph J. Duda
1999
2003 Edgar A. Howard
2007 Anthony Clark
2011 Al Schmidt Stephanie Singer
2015 Lisa M. Deeley
2019 Omar Sabir
2023 Seth Bluestein[l]
  1. ^ Citizens' Party
  2. ^ a b City Party
  3. ^ Philadelphia Party
  4. ^ Elected on Democratic and Keystone party tickets
  5. ^ Franklin-Washington Party
  6. ^ Vacancy filled after Scott died in office
  7. ^ Vacancy filled after Moore died in office
  8. ^ Vacancy when Hennessey died in office
  9. ^ Vacancy when McHenry died in office
  10. ^ Vacancy when Osser resigned
  11. ^ Vacancy when Menna died in office
  12. ^ Affiliated as Forward Republican

References

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  1. ^ "Mission Statement". Office of the Philadelphia Commissioners. The City of Philadelphia. Archived from the original on October 10, 2002. Retrieved February 5, 2012.
  2. ^ "About the Philadelphia City Commissioners". Philadelphiavotes.com. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
  3. ^ "Biography of Commissioner Omar Sabir". Philadelphiavotes.com. 2019-11-05. Retrieved 2022-06-15.
  4. ^ "City Commissioner Seth Bluestein (R)".
  5. ^ "Biography of Lisa M Deeley". Retrieved 9 April 2016.
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