With the Virginia Senate race between incumbent Democrat Mark Warner and Republican Ed Gillespie undecided, the Warner campaign has reportedly brought in prominent election attorney Marc Elias to handle the legal battles ahead.
Elias has become the Democrats' "go to" lawyer for tackling legal problems involving their campaigns. One of his most prominent battles was the 2008 Minnesota Senate recount in the race between incumbent Republican Norm Coleman and Democrat challenger Al Franken.
The Washington Free Beacon
reported that critics claimed Elias pressured "inexperienced election officials" to disregard Minnesota election law and leave the door open to counting absentee ballots that were rejected on Election Day. .
Franken won by 312 votes after a protracted legal battle.
Elias has represented scores of other prominent Democrats in legal battles over the years.
In 2004, he represented Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry and led an unsuccessful attempt to get advertisements by the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth (a veterans group critical of Kerry's combat performance during the Vietnam War) taken off the air.
Earlier this year, Elias helped Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in dealing with a Federal Election Committee inquiry after reports that his campaign provided $31,000 for his granddaughter and listed it as "holiday gifts."
This year Elias' clients have included Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu, who came under fire for using Senate funds to pay for private charter flights, and North Carolina Sen. Kay Hagan in the wake of reports that her husband received hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of federal stimulus money.
Elias, whose
firm represents the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, petitioned the Kansas Supreme Court for permission to practice in that state so he could aid the legal fight to remove Democratic senatorial candidate Chad Taylor's name from the ballot, giving independent Greg Orman a head-to-head matchup with Republican incumbent Sen. Pat Roberts.
Roberts, who had appeared to be among the most vulnerable Republican incumbents in the country during much of the campaign, defeated Orman on Tuesday by more than 10 points.
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