Marc Elias's fight for democracy
"I’m apprehensive but hopeful as we go forward toward November."
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From undoing partisan gerrymanders to protecting the Voting Rights Act to trying to get Trump disqualified from the ballot under the 14th amendment, Marc Elias is on the frontlines of many of the most important legal battles facing our democracy right now.
Elias is a seasoned veteran of the fight. In 2020, the former general counsel for John Kerry’s 2004 campaign and head of the political law practice at Perkins Coie founded Democracy Docket, which quickly established itself as a reliable source of news and information around voting, elections, and the courts. Elias rose to further prominence later that year when he racked up an almost perfect record defending Joe Biden’s victory against election challenges brought by Donald Trump and his allies.
To learn more about the multi-front war Elias and his Elias Law Group are fighting, Public Notice contributor Thor Benson connected with him for a chat earlier this month. Elias made a case that despite conventional wisdom to the contrary, the courts “have been a vital part of what has kept Trumpism from destroying our country,” and he expressed optimism that the Supreme Court could end up siding with the Colorado Supreme Court’s decision to bar Trump from the ballot (though the conversation took place just before the Court’s right-wing majority signaled skepticism about Colorado’s position during oral arguments).
“Trump is not the only candidate who can trample on the rights of individual Americans, oppose a woman’s right to reproductive health, and do the bidding of big business,” Elias told us. “There are lots of Republicans who can fill those shoes, and the Supreme Court should not be getting in the middle of that. They should just be applying the Constitution.”
A transcript of the conversation, lightly edited for length and clarity, follows.
Thor Benson