Public documents identify an SPLC-funded partner of MGM Unite and a separate political organization backing Doug Jones. They also describe involvement in Alabama municipal elections, while leaving the
MGM Unite has a documented partnership with an organization that received funding through the Southern Poverty Law Center’s voter-engagement initiative. Separately, a political action committee launched by SPLC’s advocacy affiliate announced a board role for Doug Jones and now says it supports his campaign for Alabama governor.
Both relationships appear in the organizations’ own public statements. What those statements do not establish is a financial or operational link between the Jones-backed political effort and MGM Unite’s work in Montgomery.
That distinction is central to understanding the record. The documents describe nonprofit partnerships, grant awards and candidate advocacy by separate entities. They do not establish that those activities share one budget, one voter database or one chain of command.
The strongest local connection appears in a 2022 newsletter from the Alabama Institute for Social Justice. AISJ describes its voter-engagement partnership with MGM Unite as beginning in 2018. It identifies Eddie Compton as an AISJ strategist and organizer and credits him with developing the initial registration strategy.
The same section thanks SPLC for supporting AISJ’s voter-engagement work. It also describes training nonprofits on nonpartisan voter participation.
A separate April 2021 grant announcement from the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta lists a $100,000 award to AISJ. The foundation describes Vote Your Voice as a partnership with SPLC, financed from SPLC’s endowment.
Together, these sources establish that an SPLC-funded organization partnered with MGM Unite. Neither document identifies how much of the award supported their joint work or whether MGM Unite received a direct payment.
MGM Unite’s association with AL Unite is also public. Compton’s April 2023 meeting announcement advertised joint discussion of voter registration, municipal turnout and community issues. National Voter Registration Day’s 2023 partner list names the groups together. Their formal legal relationship was not established in this review.
Black Voters Matter provides another documented connection. Compton’s account of a Selma-to-Montgomery march describes MGM Unite’s participation in the BVM-hosted event and acknowledges co-founders Cliff Albright and LaTosha Brown.
The 2021 Vote Your Voice announcement lists a $600,000 award to Black Voters Matter Capacity Building Institute. That establishes an announced grant to the named entity. It does not establish a transfer of those funds to MGM Unite. Identifying any such transfer would require the relevant grant agreements and payment records.
The Jones connection is clearest at the political-committee level.
In a September 12, 2022 announcement, SPLC Action Fund said it had launched New Southern Leaders PAC and New Southern Majority IE PAC. It announced that Jones would serve on the latter’s board and described planned collaboration with his Right Side of History PAC.
The announcement identifies SPLC Action Fund as SPLC’s 501(c)(4) affiliate and the PACs as separate entities. It describes an effort to support candidates for local office across five Southern states, including Alabama.
New Southern Majority’s current impact report expressly backs Jones for Alabama governor in 2026. The historical board announcement and current statement of support establish a political relationship. They do not establish Jones’s control of MGM Unite or its finances.
The PAC also describes specific work in Alabama municipal elections. In its account of the 2025 election cycle, New Southern Majority reports the following activity:
Its impact report separately describes general turnout work in Pleasant Grove and specifies that the effort did not endorse Yolanda Lawson.
These are the PAC’s accounts of its own activity, not independently audited expenditure figures. They document reported involvement in municipal races. No material reviewed establishes that MGM Unite participated in these campaigns or that candidates improperly coordinated with the PAC.
The technology question requires the same precision.
NGP VAN markets MiniVAN and its organizing tools to Democratic and progressive campaigns, along with nonprofits, unions and advocacy organizations. Its documentation describes canvassers accessing walk lists, recording responses and synchronizing information with VAN.
The vendor’s political market does not identify who controls any particular canvass. Establishing that requires the account holder, administrator permissions and any agreements governing access to collected information. This review did not verify those details for MGM Unite or establish that Jones’s campaign, SPLC, the Alabama Democratic Party or the Democratic National Committee receives its voter data.
Republican organizations use comparable field methods. An official ALGOP notice for an October 2022 event promoted door knocking for state House candidate Evan Jackson and registration for a walk-app account. The notice came from Alabama Minority GOP, which Alabama Daily News identifies as an ALGOP auxiliary. It does not identify the app vendor or establish paid canvassing.
Americans for Prosperity–Alabama likewise announced statewide issue canvassing in 2025 and described grassroots, digital and mail support for legislative candidates in 2026. Its 2025 announcement explicitly said that particular canvass was not supporting a candidate.
There is a documented overlap between SPLC and AFP Foundation on a different issue. The foundation’s 2021 account of support for its Supreme Court case names SPLC among organizations advocating donor privacy. That legal-policy alignment does not establish a shared Alabama campaign operation. This review found no substantiated illicit Democratic arrangement involving the Republican comparison groups.
The review also identified a publishing relationship involving Josh Moon, the Alabama Political Reporter journalist whose opinion columns have favored Jones.
Learning for Justice maintains a Moon author page identifying the Montgomery reporter and listing several contributions. His Fall 2018 feature, “A Museum. A Memorial. A Message.”, appears under his byline. The publication’s page identifies it as an SPLC project.
That establishes past contribution to an SPLC publication. The available material does not establish compensation, a current contract, staff employment or involvement in MGM Unite. It also does not establish that his Jones commentary was directed by SPLC or a campaign. No undisclosed conflict has been established by this review.
The evidence leaves several practical questions open: What are the legal identities behind MGM Unite and AL Unite? Which entity finances particular organizing projects? Who employs any paid workers? Who controls the voter-contact account, and who can access the responses?
Grant agreements, payroll records, account documentation and campaign contracts would resolve those questions more directly than organizational affiliations alone.
The records already show an SPLC-funded partner of MGM Unite and a separate political committee with announced Jones ties and reported Alabama municipal activity. They do not establish a single coordinated operation. For Montgomery voters, the remaining issue is whether the people seeking their participation can clearly identify who funds the work and how their information will be used.
Reporting note: This analysis draws on the public documents linked throughout. No requests for comment were sent, and no refusal to respond is implied. It is not a comprehensive campaign-finance audit. Unverified recruitment terms and grant-transfer claims are excluded from the findings.
Jason Davenport is a seasoned media professional with over two decades of experience in the fields of broadcasting, audio/video production, and media consulting. Based in Montgomery, Alabama, Jason is the owner of Deep South Media, where he specializes in providing innovative solutions for clients, including podcasting, blogging, web design, and social media management.