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

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

^ 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

Commissioners elected under the 1873 Constitution
Election	Commissioners
1875	John S. Wetter	David Martin	Thomas A. Fahy
1878	William S. Douglass	David Martin	John C. McManemin
1881		William Lawson	Charles H. Krumbhaar^[a]
1884		William Lawson	Charles H. Krumbhaar
1887	William Bartley	Theodore B. Stulb	John J.P. Sensenderfer
1890	William Bartley	Theodore B. Stulb
1893	Jacob Wildemore	Joseph G. Richmond
1896		Joseph G. Richmond	Thomas J. Ryan
1899		Hugh Black	Thomas J. Ryan
1902		Hugh Black	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	Walter I. Davidson
1959	Louis Menna
1963	Louis Menna
1967	Raymond Chmielewski
May 1971^[i]	Raymond Chmielewski		Francis B. Patterson
1971	Louis Menna
1973^[j]	Louis Menna	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	Omar Sabir

^ Citizens' Party
^ ^a ^b City Party
^ Philadelphia Party
^ Elected on Democratic and Keystone party tickets
^ Franklin-Washington Party
^ Vacancy filled after Scott died in office
^ Vacancy filled after Moore died in office
^ Vacancy when Hennessey died in office
^ Vacancy when McHenry died in office
^ Vacancy when Osser resigned
^ Vacancy when Menna died in office

References

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