State + Local Election Alliance (SLEA)

Activities

The State + Local Election Alliance (SLEA) monitors local elections and funds the campaigns of Democratic candidates which claim to promote “Democratic rule of law.” According to the group’s website, as of April 2026, the SLEA “actively” monitors over 10,000 local elections, has spent over $9.5 million with partner groups on local elections, and claims to have an 81 percent win rate in targeted elections. A message on the group’s website urges supporters to “stop Trump by funding the races he hopes you miss.” ¹

In March 2026, the SLEA released several advertisements on Facebook featuring left-of-center celebrity endorsers, including actress Kerry Washington and television writer Shonda Rhimes, asking viewers to support the SLEA, ³ with the latter reading “The Trump administration is waging a campaign to take over our elections — raiding election offices, suing states for voter data, and targeting the county clerks and election boards who decide whether your vote gets counted and certified.” ⁴

In January 2026, the SLEA release a post on Facebook featuring actress Sally Fields asking for donations to SLEA and claiming “Trump’s allies are targeting county clerks, state courts, and election boards—the positions that control how your vote gets cast, counted, and certified.” ⁵

In October 2025, the SLEA released a post on Instagram featuring actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus which advocated for supporting the SLEA to “stop Trump and his bootlickers.” ⁶

Leadership

The State + Local Election Alliance (SLEA) does not list any personnel on its website. ¹

On its 2026 Statement of Organization form filed with the Federal Election Commission (FEC), Molly Norton was listed as the group’s treasurer. ⁷ Norton is also the executive director of the Atlas Project, ⁸ and was listed as the treasurer of the State Democracy Defenders PAC. Norton is also a senior advisor to the Tides Center, whose “sister” organization is the Tides Foundation. ⁹

On its 2022 Statement of Purpose, the SLEA’s treasurer is listed as Steven Mele, a principal of the MBA Consulting Group. ^{10 11}

Funding

The State + Local Election Alliance (SLEA) accepts donations online through Democratic Party and left-of-center fundraising conduit ActBlue. ¹² As of April 2026, the SLEA has received 99 donations totaling to $14,964 out of a $500,000 goal for the 2026 election cycle. ¹³

According to FEC filings, SLEA has raised over $4 million between 2025 and 2026 as of April 2025. During that period, the group had spent almost $2.7 million. The SLEA’s largest donation was for $500,000 from Democracy PAC, while SLEA also received $400,000 from the Fund for States. The SLEA also received over $106,000 from the Open Democracy PAC and $50,000 from the Democracy PAC. The group’s largest donation from an individual was $250,000 from Mark Heising, while film director Judd Apatow contributed an additional $25,000. ²

The SLEA has worked with Amalgamated Bank for financial services. ^{2 10}