A San Luis Obispo County jury found Gaea Powell guilty on every count it read. Former Irvine Councilmember Tammy Kim, facing 10 felonies and a misdemeanor over similar residency claims, was granted mental health diversion instead. Irvine City News | September 22, 2026

A San Luis Obispo County jury on Monday, Sept. 21, convicted former Arroyo Grande mayoral candidate Gaea Powell of felony election and voter fraud tied to her 2022 and 2024 campaigns, The Tribune of San Luis Obispo reported. Powell, who represented herself at trial, now faces up to eight years and seven months in state prison. Jurors began deliberating Friday afternoon after closing arguments and returned their verdict around 3 p.m. Monday, after roughly seven and a half hours of deliberation. The three-week trial got off to a rocky start when a judge issued a warrant for Powell’s arrest after she failed to appear on the first day.

The verdicts
Powell was found guilty of eight felonies and one misdemeanor as read in court: voter registration fraud; perjury by declaration; perjury by false affidavit; two counts of filing a false declaration of candidacy; two counts of fraudulent voting; and failing to report campaign expenditures over $2,000 (misdemeanor). A ninth count, another fraudulent voting charge, was never read aloud. The courtroom clerk announced only eight of the nine verdicts, and the hearing ended before anyone caught the omission. District Attorney Dan Dow said the jury had returned a guilty verdict on that count as well. Judge Timothy Covello reconvened around 4:15 p.m., but by then the jurors and Powell had left. Both sides return Sept. 30 to argue whether the ninth count should be dismissed.

Background
Powell was charged in June 2025 after investigators found she had registered to vote and run for office at an address where she did not live. Over the past year she filed several civil suits against San Luis Obispo County, the City of Arroyo Grande and its clerk, her former employer, and, in federal court, the county and its clerk-recorder. All but the defamation suit against her former employer have been dismissed. She also ran unsuccessfully against Cano for county clerk-recorder in the June 2026 primary, and has called the prosecution politically motivated.

The Irvine comparison: Tammy Kim
Powell’s conviction stands in sharp contrast to how a similar case unfolded here in Irvine. In May 2025, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office charged former Irvine Councilmember Tammy Kim with 10 felonies and one misdemeanor for allegedly lying about where she lived while serving on the council and running for office (Case No. 25HF1196). Prosecutors alleged Kim changed her driver’s license and voter registration in May 2024 to an address where she had never lived, voted from that address in the November 2024 election, and later filed nomination papers listing false District 5 addresses, including one used without the knowledge of the family that lived there. A court removed her from the April 2025 special election ballot. The charges included three counts of perjury by declaration, three counts of filing a false document, voter registration fraud, filing false nomination papers, knowingly registering an ineligible voter, and a public official aiding illegal voting. The DA put her maximum exposure at 10 years and 8 months in state prison. Kim never faced a jury. Instead, she was granted admission into California’s Mental Health Pretrial Diversion program, the OC Independent reported in March 2026. Under the program, if a defendant performs satisfactorily during the diversion period, the court is required to dismiss the charges, leaving no conviction on the record. The result: two candidates accused of the same basic offense, claiming a residency they did not have in order to vote and run for local office. One is now a convicted felon awaiting sentencing. The other is on a path to having every charge wiped away and lobbying to be named as an appointed Commissioner in Irvine.

This article draws on reporting by Chloe Shrager of The Tribune (San Luis Obispo), the Orange County District Attorney’s Office and the OC Independent.