Governor Tom Wolf has named his new secretary of the Department of State, who will take over the position on January 8th.
Wolf announced on Monday that Leigh M. Chapman will take over for acting secretary Veronica Degraffenreid, who will move on to become a special advisor to the Governor.
Chapman will also be an “acting secretary”. Chapman currently serves at the executive director of Deliver My Vote, a non-partisan organization that focuses on research and education on voting by mail. Prior to her role with Deliver My Vote, Chapman had senior leadership positions at the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and several other non-profit election reform and advocacy organizations. She also worked as the Department of State’s policy director from 2015 to 2017.
In his statement, Wolf praised the outgoing secretary, commending Degraffenreid for her “steady leadership during a challenging period in election administration.” Chapman’s appointment comes a few months after the Wolf administration requested a recall of Degraffenreid’s nomination to full time Secretary of State. At the time, the Governor said that the Senate Republican Majority’s investigation into claims of fraud connected with the 2020 election would not give Degraffenreid a fair confirmation hearing from the Senate. During the confirmation process, senators were expected to ask questions about her decision to decertify the Fulton County election equipment after the county said it agreed to requests from the Republican party for an audit by third-party officials. The Senate granted the request by a 46-3 vote.
No word yet if Chapman will go before a confirmation board.
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