Studies of democratic backsliding suggest that political elites can, but often fail to, serve as "democratic gatekeepers" --- by punishing autocratic colleagues to protect democracy. While a substantial literature examines voters' preferences for democracy and reactions to democratic violations (by elites), we know less about elites' preferences for democratic gatekeeping in contemporary democracies. We develop a theory of "democratic gatekeeping'' among political elites in democracies, and test implications of this in a pre-registered survey targeting around 10,000 national and local elected representatives and party officials in Norway, widely considered a stable, consolidated democracy. Using a variety of experimental approaches, we uncover the revealed preferences for gatekeeping among Norwegian political elites exposed to anti-democratic party colleagues and anti-democratic political parties as potential coalition partners.