Democratic group launches legal fund to help secretaries of state defend themselves against post-election lawsuits

A group of Democrats is launching a legal fund to help secretaries of state in key battleground states defend against an expected wave of lawsuits after the election.

In plans first shared with NBC News, the Democratic Association of Secretaries of State plans to spend $5 million to support top election officials in Maine, Michigan, North Carolina and Nevada. Officials with the group said they could expand their outreach to other states if needed and could spend more if fundraising is strong.

The group began aggressively raising money and campaigning to elect Democratic secretaries of state, who oversee elections in multiple states, in the wake of former President Donald Trump’s false accusations of voter fraud in 2020. It first donated money to then-Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs’ 2022 election lawsuit to deal with a post-election lawsuit.

“We’re trying to help our people, but also democracy,” said Travis Brimm, the group’s executive director.

“We have a group of pro-democracy secretaries of state that we want to support. We know that many of them will be sued. We know that there will be many challenges to certifying the election, and we know that these are expensive undertakings,” he said.

The first four states were chosen in part because the group believes state laws will allow it to effectively send money to support secretaries of state.

More than 50 lawsuits have been filed nationwide seeking to overturn the 2020 election results. In the run-up to the November election, Trump’s Republican allies have already filed a series of lawsuits targeting election administrators and various rules and procedures in key battleground states.

Michigan, North Carolina and Nevada are among the key battleground states in this year’s presidential election. Michigan and Nevada also host competitive Senate races, while North Carolina has a key gubernatorial contest on the ballot.

Maine, which leans Democratic, splits its Electoral College votes between the statewide winner and the winner of each of the state’s two congressional districts. Trump again has his eye on Maine’s 2nd Congressional District, which he won in 2016 and 2020. Democratic Rep. Jared Golden also faces a tough re-election battle.