These last few weeks before an election are always the worst. The stress and uncertainty hang over everything we do like a dense fog. We can predict a wave. We can anticipate victories and defeats. But we don't really know what will happen.

And every election has surprises. Sometimes they are welcome. Other times they are soul-crushing.

I have worked on campaigns that have won and campaigns that have lost. I was there when Democrats retook the House and Senate in 2006 and when, in Barack Obama's words, we took a "shellacking" in 2010. I was devastated in 2016 and found new hope in 2020.

Yet this election feels different. I tell myself this is what the final weeks of an election always feel like, but I don't really believe it.

The truth is that the stakes of this election, and the threats facing it, are much higher than in any election I've worked on. The President of the United States is personally trying to suppress voting rights. His administration is exploring ways to subvert the results.

This means the work of lawyers — my work — has never been more critical. Yet big law firms are nowhere to be seen. Small firms like mine are carrying the load.

As of this morning, my firm is litigating 83 voting and election cases in 41 states. These are not side skirmishes. These are fights in which we are on the front lines, representing clients whose right to free and fair elections is under attack.

I've spent the last few weeks on the road, flying from coast to coast. This morning, I woke up at 7 a.m. to an inbox full of legal briefs ready for review. Then I gave a talk to a group of lawyers and recorded a podcast before checking my email again on the way to the airport.

I'm writing this on a plane heading back to the East Coast. When I land, there will be more legal work and another speech in New York City.

I remind myself that I will eventually make it back to my home outside of Washington, D.C. I’ll eventually see my dog, Blue. If I'm being entirely honest, I'm just very tired.

I go to court because that is my duty as a lawyer. I speak out because I am a citizen.

Donald Trump is trying to subvert our elections because he wants to keep power. He has built an entire movement around election denialism and voter suppression. And now democracy itself is under threat.

I have said before that it is not enough for any of us — including lawyers — to simply do our jobs. We must all speak out. Democracy Docket is how I do that.

After Hillary Clinton lost, I grew frustrated that there was no pro-democracy platform unafraid to tell the truth about the threat Trump and his MAGA movement posed to free and fair elections. I found myself searching for an outlet that covered the details of his attacks and the litigation holding democracy together.

By 2020, I was done waiting. Despite having no experience, I decided that if no one else would build a pro-democracy platform, I would. In March of that year, I created Democracy Docket.

Since then, it has grown to a full-time staff of nearly 40. It publishes a website, daily and weekly newsletters, and a podcast — all for free. It has a YouTube channel with more than 800,000 subscribers and social media accounts that reach millions.

I am particularly proud that our newsletter recently crossed 500,000 subscribers. But for Democracy Docket to keep succeeding, there is one more group that needs to grow: premium members.

That is because Democracy Docket has no corporate parent. It has no venture capitalists or private equity investors. It relies on its premium members to thrive and grow.

If you appreciate this work and would like to become a premium member, please join now. It is $120 a year, and you will get access to all my essays, along with other premium content and events.

If this isn’t the right moment for you to upgrade, I understand, and I appreciate your continued subscription.

The fight for democracy is the fight of our generation. Years from now, it is what our children and grandchildren will ask us about.

The midterms are less than four weeks away. I will keep fighting in court and bringing you information every step of the way.

Your support for Democracy Docket is part of what keeps me going through these cramped flights and long days. Thank you for being part of this community.