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Axios
Election deniers rejected in swing states
By Josh Kraushaar
One of the biggest winners of election night was iVote, a liberal group that invested $15 million in secretary of state races that typically fly under the radar. The group spent millions on ads in four swing-state secretary of state races in which Republicans nominated candidates who didn't accept the validity of the 2020 election outcome.
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NBC News
iVote to spend $5 million in Arizona Secretary of State race
By Alexandra Marquez
iVote, a group that works to elect Democratic Secretaries of State, will spend $5 million on an ad campaign in Arizona to boost Democratic Secretary of State candidate Adrian Fontes and attack his Republican opponent, Mark Finchem. In 2018, the group spent $3 million in the state's Secretary of State race to help elect Katie Hobbs, a Democrat who is now running for governor.
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The New York Times
The Midterm Races That Give Democrats Nightmares
By Blake Hounshell
Ellen Kurz, the founder and president of iVote, has been focused on secretary of state races for nearly a decade, she said in an interview. In 2018, the group spent $7 million helping elect Democrats in Arizona and Michigan who later became important players in the 2020 election. This year, iVote has a budget of more than twice that amount — $15 million, which it plans to spend on broadcast, cable and digital advertising to bolster its candidates.
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TIME
Conspiracy Theorists Want to Run America’s Elections. These Are the Candidates Standing in Their Way
By Charlotte Alter
A single conspiracy theorist overseeing elections in a swing state could plunge the next presidential race into chaos or even change the result. “If even one of these people win, and they say, ‘We don’t like these results,’ then we’re in a constitutional crisis,” says Ellen Kurz, founder of iVote, which works to elect Democratic secretaries of state. “They will stop at nothing,” Kurz adds. “So we have to stop them.”
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Newsweek
Is the Future of Arizona the Future of America Without Democracy?
By Ellen Kurz
In 2020, Democratic secretaries of state stood as a firewall against the Big Lie, earning them threats of violence from armed protestors and the former president. Now, in 2022, these election administration officials are on the ballot again, and whether they defeat their "Stop the Steal" opponents may determine whether the 2024 presidential election is free and fair or a constitutional crisis in the making. Nowhere is that truer than in the battleground state of Arizona.
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The New York Times
Want Better Elections? Choose Better Elections Officials
By Ellen Kurz
The big news from Georgia’s primary election last Tuesday wasn’t who won and who lost. It was the galling meltdown at polling places in black communities across the state. New voting machines were missing or didn’t work. Voters waited hours in line to cast their ballots. Some understandably gave up.
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Newsweek
Congress Must Defeat the Continued Insurrection Against American Democracy | Opinion
By Rep. Jim McGovern and Ellen Kurz
The Capitol insurrection isn't over. In Republican-controlled state legislatures across the country, the assault on American democracy that began on January 6 rages on.
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The Hill
Secretaries of State: Our democracy's new first responders
By Ellen Kurz
In recent weeks, our nation and our democracy were attacked by our own government. Donald Trump’s “voter integrity” commission demanded each state hand over the names, addresses, and social security numbers of millions of Americans citizens. Led by state secretaries of State, more than 40 states said “no” in whole or part to Trump’s effort.
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AZ Central
Behind Katie Hobbs' win: How Democrats flipped Arizona's 2nd-highest office
By Dustin Gardiner
Most of the money that the Arizona Democratic Party spent on Hobbs' behalf, about $3.2 million, came from iVote Fund. ... 'In the general election, Democrats outspent our campaign two-to-one on television,' said Brian Seitchik, Gaynor's campaign consultant. 'In a Democrat-friendly year, [Hobbs's] spending advantage was the difference.
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