A San Luis Obispo Superior Court jury unanimously found two-time Arroyo Grande mayoral candidate Gaea Powell guilty on all nine counts of election fraud filed against her by the District Attorney’s Office.
The conviction wrapped up the three-week-long trial marked by Powell choosing to represent herself, a delayed start because she failed to appear on the first day, and frequent admonishment from the judge.
“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 said in a statement to the press soon after the verdict. “I openly discussed my living circumstances, sought guidance from election officials concerning my eligibility to run for office, and believed I was acting lawfully. I may have lost this battle. But this is not the end of the legal fight.”
The criminal charges against Powell stem from her registering to vote at an Arroyo Grande address in 2022, while she lived in an unincorporated area outside the city’s jurisdiction. The DA’s Office said that Powell filed false nomination papers to run for mayor and fraudulently voted in both the 2022 and 2024 election cycles.
During the trial, the prosecution presented documents that showed she had changed her registered address from Heritage Lane outside city limits to James Way, and back again, between 2022 and 2025. SLO County Clerk-Recorder and trial witness Elaina Cano testified about the switches during the trial.
“This case is about a politician who time and time and time again chose to decide that the rules simply did not apply to her,” prosecutor and Deputy DA Ben Blumenthal told the jury during his closing argument on Sept. 17.
His final argument defined “domicile” and “residence” and presented key exhibits in the court’s possession, like emails between Powell and Arroyo Grande City Clerk Jessica Matson.
According to those emails, Matson told Powell that people living outside city limits weren’t eligible for Arroyo Grande races. Blumenthal told the jury that Powell claimed she was moving to the city to run for mayor but never disclosed to Matson that she had two residences.
‘This case is about a politician, not politics … This case is not about right versus left … but right versus wrong.’
—Ben Blumenthal, deputy district attorney
In Powell’s closing argument, she insisted there was inadequate evidence for the jury to find her guilty.
“I have questions that were not answered in this courtroom,” she said in her post-verdict statement. “Why wasn’t Nicholas Coughlin—the primary investigator whose work was at the center of this investigation—called by the prosecution to testify? Why did this investigation move so rapidly into sweeping searches of my electronic life?”
During her closing argument, Powell also said that the DA’s Office began investigating her for election fraud after SLO County Democratic Party Chair Tom Fulks tipped off the county clerk-recorder about it.
“This trial is not a referendum on Gaea Powell’s political beliefs,” Blumenthal told the jury in rebuttal. “This case is about a politician, not politics. … This case is not about right versus left … but right versus wrong.”
Their closing arguments concluded on Sept. 18, and the jury reached its verdict on Sept. 21, hours into reconvening after the weekend.
However, the court clerk only read the verdicts for eight of the nine criminal counts and inadvertently didn’t announce the verdict on the ninth count: a felony for fraudulent voting in the November 2024 election. DA Dan Dow told New Times the mistake created an unusual circumstance.
“We have been advised that all nine verdict sheets were properly signed and returned to the court,” he said. “It may have been ‘stuck’ to the prior sheet or something like that.”
The mistake means another day spent in court. All parties will return on Sept. 30 to discuss the error.
“The one charge (Count 9) is likely to be declared a mistrial, and if that happens it would be dismissed,” Dow said via email. “However, the court must make any and all final decisions and rulings on this matter.”
Assistant DA Eric Dobroth previously told New Times that though a conviction could carry a potential prison sentence for Powell, the election fraud case against her isn’t one where the judge would impose the maximum sentence. Dobroth added that the DA’s Office wouldn’t advocate for the maximum sentence either.
Powell’s sentencing will take place on Oct. 19 at 8:30 a.m. Judge Timothy Covello allowed her to stay out of custody until then. He ordered her to not harass, annoy, or disturb the peace of trial witnesses including Matson, Cano, and Powell’s former employer, David Marquis, whom she sued in civil court.
Powell must also surrender her passport and firearms.
She told New Times she plans to appeal the verdict and enter further litigation.
“I let Dow and Coughlin know of my intent to sue them … in May 2025. That is still my plan. The 90 percent of evidence I was not allowed to present in this case will be presented then,” she said via email. “I have LOVED learning the court processes and look forward to continuing to fight government corruption.” ∆
This article appears in Autumn Arts Annual 2026.
