Marc Elias is an American attorney specializing in election law, voting rights litigation, redistricting, and campaign finance law. He served as general counsel for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign and has represented numerous Democratic candidates, political committees, and progressive organizations. Through his law firm and affiliated organizations, he has become one of the most influential election-law attorneys in the United States.
Elias is best known for filing and supporting lawsuits involving voting procedures, ballot access, redistricting, voter registration, absentee voting, and election administration.
Supporters argue that his work protects voting rights, expands ballot access, combats voter suppression, and ensures compliance with election laws.
Critics contend that he has used aggressive litigation strategies—often described by opponents as “lawfare”—to challenge election rules, redistricting maps, voter-identification requirements, and other policies generally favored by Republicans. They argue that these legal efforts frequently seek to obtain through the courts political and electoral outcomes that would be difficult to achieve through the legislative process alone.
Because of his extensive involvement in election-related litigation nationwide, Marc Elias is often viewed as one of the Democratic Party’s most prominent legal strategists and a central figure in contemporary election-law battles.
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