The State Democracy Defenders PAC is a Democratic Party-aligned political action committee formed in the 2022 election cycle to promote the work of State Democracy Defenders, a left-of-center nonprofit organization formed to engage in legal advocacy opposing Republican efforts to implement changes to election administration and procedures and former President Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign. Much of the group’s spending was directed to the Elias Law Group and other Democratic-associated law firms, as well as overhead. ^{1 2 3}

The group is strongly opposed to President Trump and much of its messaging focuses on pushback against President 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 President Trump. ^{4 5 1 2}

Background

The State Democracy Defenders PAC is a political action committee aligned with State Democracy Defenders which is comprised of two nonprofit organizations: the State Democracy Defenders Fund and State Democracy Defenders Action. The fund is organized as an educational nonprofit and most of its activity centered around filing amicus briefs in 2024 election-related court cases and placing op-eds in media outlets. State Democracy Defenders Action is the lobbying and advocacy arm of the group. ^{4 5 1 2}

The PAC is organized as a Carey Committee, a term for a PAC that uses segregated funds to collect limited contributions that may be passed on directly to candidate committees and unlimited contributions that may be used for independent spending on behalf of candidates. The PAC most recently identified itself as a single-candidate PAC supporting Vice President Kamala Harris’s 2024 presidential campaign. In 2024, NBC News reported that the PAC was formed because “The group anticipates that former President Donald Trump and his allies will repeat their large-scale attempt to undermine confidence in the election before Nov. 5 and then work to overturn election outcomes by challenging ballots and results in court in the days and weeks after voting.” The PAC announced plans to fund state parties and provide funds to Democratic election-law efforts. ⁶

Activity

The State Democracy Defenders PAC reported over $2.6 million in expenditures in 2024, of which 54% went to administrative expenses. The Elias Law Group, a Democratic election law firm led by Marc Elias, was the single largest recipient of the PACs funds, collecting $778,000. The Bonner Group collected $135,000 and Forward Solutions collected $96,000. Other recipients of the PAC’s funds included the Democratic Party of Virginia, the Democratic Party of Michigan, the Crystal Stair Group, the Democratic Party of Arizona, the Democratic Attorneys General Association, the Democratic Governors Association, and Swing State Consulting. ⁷

People

Norm Eisen, who served as U.S. Ambassador to the Czech Republic in the Obama administration, is the founder of the group. A longtime Democratic operative, Eisen has, through a variety of organizations, waged an aggressive legal action campaign against former President Donald Trump dating back to his involvement in Trump’s first impeachment. ⁸

Other individuals on the board of State Democracy Defenders include anti-Trump former Republican operatives such as George Conway and Bill Kristol, and left-of-center activists and former politicians including former Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh (D). ^{9 10}

Those announced as being involved with the State Democracy Defenders PAC include Jim Messina, who was campaign manager to Barack Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign; Allegra Lawrence-Hardy, a close ally of former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams; and TJ Ducklo, who worked for President Joe Biden in 2020 and 2024. ⁶

1. “Home.” State Democracy Defenders Action. Accessed November 8, 2024. https://statedemocracydefenders.org/
2. “Home.” State Democracy Defenders Fund. Accessed November 8, 2024. https://statedemocracydefenders.org/fund/
3. “State Democracy Defenders PAC: Expenditures.” OpenSecrets. Accessed December 2, 2024. https://www.opensecrets.org/political-action-committees-pacs/state-democracy-defenders-pac/C00812495/expenditures/2024
4. 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
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 Inquirer. https://www.inquirer.com/opinion/commentary/mail-in-ballot-genser-coalfield-pennsylvania-supreme-court-20241020.html
6. McClain, Matt. “Democrats launch PAC to counter Republican legal election challenges. NBC News. August 27, 2024. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/democrats-launch-new-pac-counter-republican-legal-election-challenges-rcna168510
7. “State Democracy Defenders PAC: 2024 Expenditures.” OpenSecrets. Accessed December 2, 2024. https://www.opensecrets.org/political-action-committees-pacs/state-democracy-defenders-pac/C00812495/expenditures/2024
8. Norman Eisen et al., “The Democracy Playbook: Preventing and Reversing Democratic Backsliding,” Brookings Institution, November 2019. Accessed February 11, 2021. https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/The-Democracy-Playbook_Preventing-and-Reversing-Democratic-Backsliding.pdf
9. ^[1] “Board.” State Democracy Defenders Action. Accessed November 8, 2024. https://statedemocracydefenders.org/board/
10. “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/