I recently attended a bipartisan election conference where I was directly targeted by the organized pushers of election disinformation. Outside the conference site stood a prominent national election denial activist along with others who pushed microphones and cameras into the faces of some attendees entering the event. The activist claimed that the conference was a "far left" and "secret" summit of "election riggers."

Here are the facts:

• Every single chief election official in America was invited, regardless of party.
• Attendees included a mix of people - from progressive Democrats to conservative Republicans.
• The focus of the event was on best practices in running elections - and on the urgent need to push back against election deniers and disinformation as the 2024 election approaches.
• The conference was live-streamed on both C-SPAN2 and YouTube.

But those facts didn't stop the extremist smear machine from whipping people into a frenzy on social media - including a tweet targeting me. This is what we're up against. It's not theoretical. It's real. And it's here now.

We need to build a campaign organization that can stand up to the poisonous and dangerous disinformation that threatens the well-earned confidence in our system. We need to raise another $6,000 this week to correct the record and fight back against disinformation. Will you chip in $5 or more now?

But it gets worse.

Billionaire Elon Musk elevated and rewarded the smears by re-tweeting the activist's bizarre and disturbing accusations. His tweet got 2.7 million views. He used his considerable power and reach to help spread dangerous and delusional conspiracy theories about a nonpartisan gathering.

We're up against a powerful and dangerous machine that will stop at nothing to undermine faith in our democracy. But together, we can push back and protect our election system.

I'm asking for your help. Will you please donate to my campaign today to help me build the organization we need to push back against election deniers and disinformation? Your support will help us get the word out about our nonpartisan efforts to strengthen our democracy. Chip in now →

Thank you for standing with me.

Sincerely,

Steve Simon