Leah Hoopes is a Republican committeewoman from Bethel Township in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, a small business owner, and a certified 2020 Trump campaign poll watcher who became one of the state’s most persistent election-denial litigants. Working mostly alongside fellow activist Gregory Stenstrom, she has filed lawsuit after lawsuit alleging fraud in Delaware County elections. Every court to review the claims has rejected them, and she has faced tens of thousands of dollars in sanctions along the way.
Who She Is
Hoopes’s public profile grew out of her role as a certified poll watcher during the November 2020 general election in Delaware County. She is a Republican committeewoman in Bethel Township and runs a small business. Since 2020 her name has appeared on election-related petitions, a federal civil rights complaint, a defamation suit filed against her, and the slate of Pennsylvania Republicans who signed an alternate electoral certificate for Donald Trump.
The 2020 Election Lawsuits and Sanctions
Shortly after Delaware County certified its 2020 results, Hoopes and Stenstrom began filing legal challenges. On December 22, 2020, they filed an emergency petition in the Delaware County Court of Common Pleas claiming they had been denied adequate access to observe ballot counting. The petition asked for $1,000 in sanctions and one year in prison for election board members they accused of obstructing their oversight duties.1Delaware County Daily Times. U.S. Supreme Court Declines to Hear 2020 Election Case Filed by Delaware County Residents
On January 13, 2021, a Delaware County judge denied the request with prejudice and dismissed the case. The court imposed $50,000 in sanctions against Hoopes and Stenstrom, ruling that there was not a “scintilla” of evidence supporting their fraud allegations and calling the petitioners “frivolous” and possessed of “unclean hands.”2U.S. Supreme Court. Petition for Writ of Certiorari, Stenstrom v. Delaware County The sanctions were later dismissed by the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania on appeal.
Hoopes and Stenstrom appealed the underlying ruling. The Commonwealth Court affirmed the lower court. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court declined to hear the case on June 22, 2022. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear it in January 2023, and a petition for rehearing followed the next month.1Delaware County Daily Times. U.S. Supreme Court Declines to Hear 2020 Election Case Filed by Delaware County Residents
Alternate Elector for Trump
Hoopes was one of 20 prominent Pennsylvania Republicans who signed an electoral certificate as alternate Trump electors following the 2020 election.3Billy Penn. Fake Electors Trump Pennsylvania Influence Republican Politics Unlike fake-elector slates in states such as Michigan, the Pennsylvania certificate included a legal caveat stating that the votes were only to count if Trump’s legal challenges to the election succeeded. The Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office concluded that this conditional language meant the actions did not meet the legal standards for forgery, and no criminal charges were filed against members of the Pennsylvania slate.4Spotlight PA. Pennsylvania Trump Fake Electors Charges Explainer
Later Lawsuits Through 2025
In November 2021, Hoopes, Stenstrom, and a third plaintiff, Ruth Moton, filed a 92-page complaint in the Delaware County Court of Common Pleas, represented by Pottstown attorney Thomas J. Carroll. The suit named 38 defendants, including former Pennsylvania Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar and Delaware County Director of Elections James P. Allen. It alleged common law fraud, negligent and fraudulent misrepresentation, and a conspiracy to destroy, alter, and hide election data, and it sought a jury trial, a protective order against record destruction, and an independent forensic audit.5Delaware County Daily Times. Complaint Alleges Fraud, Cover-up in 2020 Election A separate October 2021 case seeking to preserve election evidence was dismissed as moot by Judge Whelan in July 2022, and the Commonwealth Court later struck the appellate brief and quashed the appeal.6U.S. Supreme Court. Petition for Rehearing, Stenstrom v. Delaware County
Hoopes then turned to the 2022 midterms. On November 21, 2022, she joined Stenstrom and Republican candidate Nichole Missino in a petition seeking to halt certification of the 2022 general election. The petition accused the county Board of Elections of mailing ballots to unverified voters, deleting mail-in ballot application and voter registration records, allowing partisan third parties to control tabulation, and breaking the chain of custody for ballots and drives.7Governing. Delaware County Hears Case on Delaying Election Certification Judge Barry Dozor denied the petition the day after it was filed, finding the plaintiffs had “failed to establish any of the six elements required by Pennsylvania law to obtain a preliminary injunction” and describing the evidence as “innuendo,” “suspicion,” “false information,” and “fake news.”8Democracy Docket. Motion for Reconsideration, Missino v. Delaware County Board of Elections The county’s solicitor noted at the hearing that the plaintiffs had not supplied the affidavits of 20 qualified electors required to mount a formal election challenge under Pennsylvania law.
Hoopes’s most recent known legal action is a federal civil rights lawsuit filed on August 7, 2025, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. The case, Hoopes v. Delaware County et al., was brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and named the county, its Board of Elections, and several officials. Hoopes was represented by attorney J. Chadwick Schnee of Schnee Legal Services. On March 24, 2026, District Judge Nitza I. Quiñones Alejandro granted the defendants’ motions and dismissed the complaint without prejudice.9PACER Monitor. Hoopes v. Delaware County et al
The Savage Defamation Case
Hoopes has also been a defendant. In November 2021, James Savage, the supervisor and chief custodian of the Delaware County Voting Machine Warehouse, sued Hoopes and Stenstrom along with Donald Trump, the Trump campaign, Rudy Giuliani, Jenna Ellis, and Phill Kline in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas. Savage alleged the defendants had deliberately and maliciously accused him of using a USB device to fraudulently upload 50,000 votes for Joe Biden, and said the resulting attacks on his character contributed to two heart attacks and threats against his family. He sought damages above $50,000 plus punitive damages.10Delaware County Daily Times. Delco Election Official Sues Trump Supporters for Defamation
The case was ultimately discontinued. On February 28, 2024, Savage’s attorney filed a praecipe for discontinuance, which terminated the underlying action. The Superior Court of Pennsylvania later ruled that the trial court lacked jurisdiction to enter orders after the discontinuance and vacated several related orders as legal nullities.11Superior Court of Pennsylvania. Opinion, J-A06005-25
How Officials and Courts Have Responded
Delaware County officials have consistently rejected the fraud allegations. County Solicitor William F. Martin called the pair’s lawsuits “political theater and a tool for fundraising” and warned that continued baseless suits could lead the county to seek damages.1Delaware County Daily Times. U.S. Supreme Court Declines to Hear 2020 Election Case Filed by Delaware County Residents At a 2023 council meeting Martin said, “It’s time to put up or shut up. If you think there is fraud, sue me.”12NPR. Pennsylvania Voting Officials Are Still Fighting Election Deniers County Director Howard Lazarus said earlier that he was “confident that in the end the allegations will be proven to be fabricated and wholly without merit,” and Martin later called the 2021 complaint “utterly lacking in basic diligence.”13Delaware County Daily Times. District Attorney Closes Case on Election Fraud Claims
The Delaware County District Attorney’s office investigated the fraud allegations and closed the case, concluding that key evidence cited in the lawsuits was “complete fiction” and “materially edited.”13Delaware County Daily Times. District Attorney Closes Case on Election Fraud Claims Hoopes and Stenstrom had asked the District Attorney, the state Attorney General, and the former U.S. Attorney to investigate; none of those requests produced charges against any county employee.
Hoopes has described the losses as evidence of bias against her claims. In their U.S. Supreme Court filings she and Stenstrom characterized their experience as a battle against a “disparity in justice,” saying they had been denied evidentiary hearings, discovery, oral arguments, and jury trials while being hit with punitive sanctions meant to silence them.6U.S. Supreme Court. Petition for Rehearing, Stenstrom v. Delaware County No court that has reviewed the merits has agreed.