Morning

Yesterday, my day started with a familiar scene, even if the stakes felt higher than usual. As the Supreme Court oral argument in the birthright citizenship case played in the background, I watched via livestream as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis spoke to a crowd of retirees, preparing to sign a new voter suppression law.

DeSantis stood awkwardly before his friendly audience and offered a distorted history of voting law changes in the Sunshine State. At each turn, he justified restricting voting rights by citing exaggerated claims of fraud and outright lies. He punctuated his remarks with falsehoods about other states and used the coded language of a skilled election denier.

In Donald Trump’s America, this is another day in the life. I simply wanted him to finish his nonsense monologue and sign the latest voter suppression bill into law so that my law firm could file its next lawsuit and I could get on with my day. After nearly an hour, he did just that. Minutes later, our federal lawsuit was on file.

For weeks, I had publicly telegraphed that we would sue if DeSantis signed this measure. I promised it. I also recounted our past lawsuits and victories to make the point that while success is never guaranteed, we would fight as hard as humanly possible to protect our clients and all the voters of Florida.

That is the same message I deliver in nearly every case I file: that I will fight hard and use every legal tool available. No doctrine is off-limits. No precedent goes uncited if it can protect voting rights and improve my clients' chances of success.

This has sometimes ruffled feathers among lawyers who believe my tactics are too aggressive — that I should be more cautious and weigh the risks of defeat more heavily. I simply do not believe that caution is warranted at this moment. Worse, I believe excessive caution will condemn us to accept defeat out of fear of losing. I would rather fight and lose than concede the field without a fight.

Republicans like Trump hate me because I fight back. In their less guarded moments, some will begrudgingly acknowledge that I am a good lawyer and a tough opponent. The calls for Republicans to find their own Marc Elias — a lawyer willing to fight as hard for their side as I fight for mine — once flattered me. Now I understand them in more ominous terms.

The law DeSantis signed is modeled after the federal SAVE Act. It attacks the virtually nonexistent problem of noncitizen voting by imposing draconian requirements to prove citizenship in order to register. It goes one step further by targeting some existing voters, not just new registrants.

Unlike many of the laws we challenge, this one does not take effect immediately. Still, we move quickly — to force the state to defend its bad law and to make clear that we are fully committed to achieving results.

By shortly after 11 a.m., we were on file. I was still listening to the Supreme Court argument. It was clear Trump was going to lose, and badly. By my count, the vote will be 8-1, though even a 9-0 defeat seems possible.

My day was just beginning.

Afternoon 

In the afternoon, I learned that the Department of Justice had sued Idaho for its full, unredacted voter file — a database containing the names, addresses and personal information of every registered voter in the state.

The DOJ has sought this data from all 50 states plus the District of Columbia. Handing that data to a politically weaponized DOJ would give the federal government an unprecedented tool to scrutinize, intimidate and ultimately suppress voters.

My team and I are already fighting the DOJ in 29 other states over this exact issue. So far, we are undefeated. I immediately directed my team to prepare to intervene in Idaho as well.

Finally, it was time to turn my attention to what I had expected would consume most of my day — Trump's latest attack on voting by mail through a plainly unconstitutional executive order.

I have had the privilege of representing the Democratic Party in some of the most consequential voting rights cases in recent memory. Now I was preparing to do so again in one that could define the 2026 elections.

Evening

By 8 p.m., our lawsuit challenging Trump's executive order was on file in federal district court in Washington, D.C.

Only then could I step back and take stock of the day.

Donald Trump is a president who treats the Constitution as an obstacle rather than a cornerstone of American democracy. He demands complete loyalty from his political allies — whether they are the governor of Florida or the secretary of state of Idaho. His aim is to demonize and intimidate his opponents. When it comes to elections, he wants to set the rules and control the results.

I may win or lose the case in Florida. I may win or lose in Idaho. But this I know for certain: I will never stop fighting for democracy in court. I will never yield to calls to moderate my approach or be more reasonable. I will begin and end each day exactly as I did yesterday — until the threat to our democracy is defeated.