State Armor

Background

State Armor was founded in early 2024 to act as a “go-to source for research and education on state solutions” ³ regarding possible influence by the People’s Republic of China. ⁴

Upon launching, the organization claimed to have been active in more than a dozen states. ¹ As of October 2025, at least four U.S states have passed “foreign influence registries” or pieces of state-level bills to register individuals within the state that could be working for an adversarial country to the U.S such as China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia, and Venezuela. According to James Czerniawski of the Consumer Choice Center, “[t]here’s often a fair debate to be had over China’s influence…[b]ut my bigger concern is that states are greenlighting a second Red Scare.” ²

Policy Advocacy

According to its website, State Armor’s advocacy focuses on four areas: “protecting critical infrastructure,” building supply chains of freedom,” “stopping influence operations,” and “preparing for Pacific conflict.” ^{1 5}

On protecting critical infrastructure, State Armor claims that states should remove “any equipment and infrastructure built, powered by, or dependent on foreign adversaries,” and prohibit “foreign adversaries” from investing in critical infrastructure, and prohibit land sales to such nations. ⁶

The organization calls for “building supply chains of freedom” by buying products and services from allied nations. while replacing the source of technologies such as drones, telecommunications and radar equipment, port crane software, genetic sequencing devices, and laser surveillance technologies from pro-U.S nations. The group has also advocated in favor of U.S states building tax incentives to reshore critical supply chains. ⁷

The group says that state leaders should “expose and shut down foreign influence operations” which includes alleged attempts to influence students on college campuses and universities, the use of foreign police stations, and cutting down on drugs being shipped into the country such as fentanyl. ⁸

State Armor has also claimed the U.S and its states need to prepare for “Pacific conflict” such as possible involvement against a potential Chinese invasion of the island of Taiwan. It claims that “states should audit procurement supply chains in order to assess the risk of disruption in the event of a Pacific conflict, and create a contingency plan against the risk of supply chain disruption.” ⁹

Leadership

Michael Lucci is the founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of State Armor. Lucci is a former senior fellow at the Cicero Institute, a former senior policy advisor to the State Policy Network, and a senior tax advisor to the Platte Institute. Lucci was previously a presidential appointee on the Federal Services Impasse Panel and was the chief of policy to former Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner (R-IL). He was also the former vice president of state projects at the Tax Foundation and former vice president of policy at the Illinois Policy Institute. ¹⁰

Chuck DeVore is a member of the board of directors for State Armor. DeVore is the chief national initiatives officer at the Texas Public Policy Foundation. He was a member of the California State Assembly for six years and was vice chairman of the Committee on Revenue and Taxation as well as a member of the Budget Committee. In the 1980s, he was a special assistant for foreign affairs in the U.S. Department of Defense, and was formerly an executive in the aerospace industry for 13 years. ¹¹

Henrik Rasmussen is a member of the board of directors for State Armor. Rasmussen is the executive director of the Institute for Science and International Security. He is formerly the vice president of health care and economic progress at Stand Together. Before that, he was president of Argonne Ventures, a consulting firm focused on investment projects in the technology, defense, and natural resources sectors. He was also co-founder and managing director of Cimbria Capital, a private equity firm. ¹²