MAGA candidate in small Calif. town convicted on 9 counts of election fraud

Gaea Powell echoed a core idea from the Make America Great Again movement when she ran for San Luis Obispo County clerk-recorder earlier this year, arguing for new voter ID rules to improve “election integrity” in the Central California county. 

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But it turns out this conservative candidate wasn’t following election laws herself. 

A county jury found Powell guilty on nine counts of election fraud last week, including lying about her residence, unlawfully registering to vote and fraudulently voting. The charges stem from 2022 and 2024 elections, when Powell ran for mayor of Arroyo Grande, a small town near Pismo Beach. 

Powell declined an SFGATE interview request but shared a statement that said she plans to appeal the case. 

“I respect the jury’s role. But I am deeply disappointed by today’s verdict,” Powell’s statement said. “I have maintained from the beginning, and I maintain today, that I did not knowingly deceive anyone and did not act with fraudulent intent.”

Powell’s sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 19, according to the district attorney’s office for San Luis Obispo County. The office said in a news release that it was still determining a sentencing recommendation, and it did not state the maximum penalty she could face. Powell told SFGATE by text message that she is facing as much as eight years in jail.

This isn’t the first time a conservative candidate calling for stricter voting rules has been found guilty of violating election rules themselves. Tina Peters, a former election clerk in Colorado, made national headlines after she was convicted of tampering with voting machines, following her claims of voter fraud in the 2020 election. Peters became a MAGA hero and was commended by President Donald Trump, and Colorado Gov. Jared Polis later commuted her sentence.

Chad Bianco, the Riverside County sheriff and a former gubernatorial candidate, promoted claims of voter fraud in last year’s special election and later seized hundreds of thousands of ballots. The California Supreme Court ruled last week that he broke election law by seizing the ballots, with the justices writing that Bianco exposed the ballots to “alteration or tampering” by illegally seizing them.

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Powell is a frequent public commentator at local meetings, and in 2023, she helped organize a rally for Moms for Liberty, a group associated with President Donald Trump’s MAGA movement, against diversity initiatives at nearby schools. Powell’s mayoral opponent in 2024 criticized her for bringing graphic “pornography” to a public meeting, which Powell said she found at a high school library.

Powell’s conviction relates to her activities in 2022 and 2024, when she ran for mayor in Arroyo Grande. The charges filed in April accused her of registering to vote and run for office while knowingly living outside of city limits. The charges also accused her of violating campaign finance laws. 

Powell represented herself and alleged that evidence that would have vindicated her was excluded during the trial. 

“I openly discussed my living circumstances, sought guidance concerning my eligibility to run for office from election officials, and believed I was acting lawfully,” Powell said in her statement shared with SFGATE.

After losing her mayoral elections in 2022 and 2024, Powell ran this year for San Luis Obispo County clerk-recorder, a position that oversees all elections in the county. Powell told the local chamber of commerce that she is “fearlessly advocating for reforms that strengthen election legitimacy, public trust, and civic responsibility — including voter identification, proof of citizenship, clean voter rolls, and transparent processes.” Powell came in third place in the primary, knocking her out of the general election.