WASHINGTON, D.C. (July 1, 2025) – Fair Elections Center, a national nonpartisan, nonprofit voting rights organization, underwent a planned leadership transition today: Robert Brandon, who founded Fair Elections Center in 2006 and has been its president and CEO ever since, moves into the role of president emeritus and senior advisor. Rebekah Caruthers, who has served as vice president for the last four years, is now Fair Elections Center’s president and CEO, marking an exciting new chapter in the organization’s history.
“Rebekah’s focus is always on ‘what’s the result?’” Brandon says of Caruthers. “She is the perfect combination of imagining and anticipating what’s possible while also being practical. Rebekah has dedicated her career to fighting back against bad-faith actors and protecting Americans’ right to vote. I am excited to see her usher in a new era for the organization.”
“Growing up in Omaha, I watched my mom registering people to vote and witnessed civic engagement and community building firsthand,” Caruthers says. “As an adult, my work has taken me all over this country, talking to voters from virtually every demographic group. I reflect on my family story today. My story includes being in the first generation of my family who was born into full civil rights, including voting rights, despite my family being in this country for centuries. So I understand the real-world impacts when there are barriers to voting. As our country grapples with foundational challenges in this moment, that is the lens I bring.”
Over the last 20 years, Fair Elections Center has grown into a leading voting rights organization, helping to expand access to voting among disenfranchised, underrepresented, and marginalized communities. Brandon’s leadership and vision for the organization have been instrumental in empowering millions of Americans to engage in the democratic process, strengthening student participation in elections, recruiting poll workers, and protecting the right to vote through litigation and policy work via the organization’s three main programs: Voting Rights Project, Campus Vote Project, and Work Elections Project.
Brandon will continue supporting the organization and advising the new president through the 2026 election cycle in his new role. “It has been a pleasure and a privilege building this organization over the past 20 years, collaborating with our tireless, talented staff, our invaluable partners and supporters, and our dear friends across the country,” says Brandon. “I am beyond grateful. As I step down, I’m also extremely proud of the work the organization has done to protect and empower voters, to affect voting laws, to support election officials, and to educate the next generation of voting rights advocates, who now constitute an expanding and influential network of civic leaders.”
“Fair Elections Center is the ‘House that Bob Built,’” says Caruthers. “Bob Brandon is a trailblazer in the public interest who has greatly impacted this country over the course of his long and distinguished career. I am very fortunate to have been by his side, learning from him, over the last few years that we have been running Fair Elections Center together.
“Now I look forward to taking the best things that we have done over the years and continuing to move those things forward while bringing new ideas to the current fight for democracy. Since I’ve been at Fair Elections Center, our budget has grown by over 300%, with our staff more than doubled. We have grown to meet the demands of the moment. The future of this organization is bright, even in these challenging times where voting rights are under attack.
“Voting rights are the rights from which all other rights are derived—the principal peaceful path we, as Americans, have for making our voices heard and combating injustice. In a time of encroaching authoritarianism, voting rights are critical when it comes to defending our democracy and our Constitutional rights. The fight for voting rights is a noble one: and every generation needs to keep that fight going to ensure that the wins of the previous generations endure, regardless of political parties or administrations.”
Robert Brandon has more than 50 years of public policy, legislative, media, and campaign experience at the federal, state, and local levels. He has specialized in health policy, tax policy, access to higher education, and internet policy at federal agencies, in Congress, and at the state and local level. Mr. Brandon has experience in all aspects of election law, how mobilization organizations interact with those laws, and on voter suppression. He has been an advisor to the White House on health care strategy and an adjunct lecturer in law at the George Washington University Law School. He has written and testified extensively and appeared on numerous national TV and radio shows. He received his J.D. from the National Law Center at George Washington University where he was an editor of the Law Journal and elected Order of the Coif.
Rebekah Caruthers has worked on political and government projects all across the country. She has managed or consulted on campaigns, voter projects, and with candidates in over thirty states including presidential and down ballot races in battleground states. Ms. Caruthers has worked with several national organizations including MoveOn.org, Everytown for Gun Safety, the National Democratic Training Committee, Equal Justice Works, and the National Network for Arab American Communities. She worked on Capitol Hill for Congressman John Dingell focusing on the Affordable Care Act before moving on to become director of a lobby shop at an energy trade association focusing on tax, energy, and manufacturing issues. She studied law at the University of Nebraska College of Law, studied abroad in South Africa through Howard University School of Law, and received a political science degree from Creighton University. She is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. and the Metropolitan (D.C.) Chapter of the Links, Inc. Caruthers is a member of the Bar of the District of Columbia.
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Fair Elections Center is a nonpartisan organization dedicated to safeguarding the future of our democracy through innovative efforts focused on voting rights and civic engagement. We use advocacy, litigation, organizing, education, and technology to protect and expand the right to vote, understanding the particular impact on disenfranchised, underrepresented, and marginalized communities. Through our unique partnerships with hundreds of campuses across the country, we are able to empower millions of new voters to participate in our democracy. Our litigation and advocacy efforts across dozens of states allows us to anticipate and counteract threats to free and fair elections. With our visionary use of technology we are able to support election administration throughout the nation.
