State Democracy Defenders Action is a left-of-center lobbying and advocacy organization formed in 2024 to oppose Republican election-related policy efforts. State Democracy Defenders Action is the lobbying and advocacy arm of the State Democracy Defenders groups, conducting a variety of projects highlighting statements made by President Donald Trump and others that the group identified as “specific public promises, plans and pronouncements to erode our democratic principles.” The group has been critical of the Heritage Foundation-associated Project 2025. ^{1 2 3 4}

The group is strongly opposed to President Trump and much of its messaging focuses on pushback against Trump and the rise of “autocracy” in the United States. Several well-known anti-Trump former Republicans including Bill Kristol and George Conway are affiliated with the group, which is led by Norm Eisen, a former Obama administration ambassador who through a variety of organizations waged an aggressive legal action campaign against Trump. ^{1 5 3 4}

Background

State Democracy Defenders Action is the lobbying and advocacy arm of the State Democracy Defenders network of advocacy groups and is organized as a 501(c)(4) nonprofit. The group also operates a political action committee, the State Democracy Defenders PAC, which supports Democratic candidates and Democratic Party committees, and a charitable arm, State Democracy Defenders Fund, that conducts litigation and legal advocacy. ^{6 4}

While the group ostensibly supports defending democracy and promoting “free and fair elections” in the United States, the group’s efforts center around opposing Donald Trump and supporting Democratic campaigns and election law activities. The group draws comparisons between Trump and what it calls autocracy, which is allegedly promoted by Trump. The group also called Project 2025, a policy proposal from a Heritage Foundation-led coalition that became a central messaging point in opposition to the Trump campaign despite the proposal being unaffiliated with the Trump campaign. The group stated that “authoritarian proposals like Project 2025 that constitute an assault on the freedoms of every American. This movement threatens to eviscerate our rights, our prosperity, and our stability and security upon which our nation and the world rely.” ⁷

Activity

State Democracy Defenders Action published Just Security, an Autocracy Threat Tracker, housed at NYU Law School’s online forum for analyzing democracy and security. The tracker “leads the effort to identify concrete threats to American democracy by tracking specific public promises, plans and pronouncements to erode our democratic principles.” ⁸

Another project of the group was an attempt to brand former President Donald Trump’s expressed concerns over potential non-citizen voting as “The Big Lie of 2024,” stating that “The Big Lie of the 2020 election was that it was somehow stolen from Donald Trump. The Second Big Lie is a disinformation campaign using falsehoods about immigrants to sow doubts about an election. The incidence of ineligible persons voting is vanishingly small–so much so that it is most accurate to say that only eligible people vote in the U.S.” ⁸

In partnership with other left-of-center groups, State Democracy Defenders Action published a report called “Project 2025 Administration,” described as “a comprehensive resource that identifies and maps the dozens of potential key appointees across offices and agencies — and areas of influence – in a possible second Trump administration.” ⁸

The group also published a guide titled “Trying Trump: A Guide to His First Election Interference Criminal Trial, Edited by Norman Eisen.” ⁸

1. Beals v. Virginia Coalition for Immigrant Rights. BRIEF FOR FORMER MEMBERS OF CONGRESS AS AMICI CURIAE IN SUPPORT OF RESPONDENTS. 2024. State Democracy Defenders Fund. https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/24/24A407/330589/20241029151116178_333985%20Amicus%20on%20Application.pdf
2. Eisen, Norman and Boockvar, Kathy. “In a pair of legal cases on the validity of Pa. mail-in ballots, the voices of voters must prevail.” The Philadelphia Inquirer. https://www.inquirer.com/opinion/commentary/mail-in-ballot-genser-coalfield-pennsylvania-supreme-court-20241020.html
3. “Home.” State Democracy Defenders Action. Accessed November 8, 2024. https://statedemocracydefenders.org/
4. “Home.” State Democracy Defenders Fund. Accessed November 8, 2024. https://statedemocracydefenders.org/fund/
5. Eisen, Norman and Boockvar, Kathy. “In a pair of legal cases on the validity of Pa. mail-in ballots, the voices of voters must prevail.” The Philadelphia Enquirer. https://www.inquirer.com/opinion/commentary/mail-in-ballot-genser-coalfield-pennsylvania-supreme-court-20241020.html
6. “State Democracy Defenders PAC.” Virginia Public Access Project. Accessed November 8, 2024.  https://www.vpap.org/donors/469274-state-democracy-defenders-pac/
7. “Freedom 2025 — 10 Principles: Our Cross-Partisan Commitments to Advance American Freedoms and Oppose Autocracy.” State Democracy Defenders Action, Democracy Forward, Principals First. Accessed November 8, 2024. https://statedemocracydefenders.org/freedom-2025-10-principles/
8. “Resources.” State Democracy Defenders Action. Accessed November 8, 2024.  https://statedemocracydefenders.org/resources/