The former Arroyo Grande mayoral candidate charged with election fraud pleaded not guilty once again to the nine charges against her.
The plea on Monday during a superior court arraignment in a San Luis Obispo courtroom follows a days-long preliminary hearing that ended April 2 with San Luis Obispo County Judge Timothy Covello ruling to uphold the charges against Gaea Powell.
Powell ran for Arroyo Grande mayor in the 2022 and 2024 elections and was charged last June with eight felonies and one misdemeanor, including voter registration fraud, filing a false declaration of candidacy, fraudulent voting, failure to file campaign finance reports, and perjury by declaration.
The San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office alleges that in July 2022, Powell registered to vote at an address in the City of Arroyo Grande where she did not live, thereby committing voter registration fraud. Instead, prosecutors say she lived in a rural part of the county outside of the city limits.
Also during the 2022 election cycle, she’s accused of falsely declaring under penalty of perjury the location of her residence, submitting false nomination papers, failing to file campaign finance reports as required by law, and voting on November 8, 2022, where she was not legally entitled to vote.
Powell says she was open with investigators and believes that she did not break any laws with how she voted or where she was registered to vote.
She is currently representing herself, but filed a motion last week asking the court to appoint conflict counsel to her case instead of a public defender.
The motion cites “unique and overlapping circumstances involving multiple local governmental entities and officials” as a reason for the request, listing multiple county agencies, including the district attorney’s office, county clerk-recorder’s office, the City of Arroyo Grande and others associated with the agencies.
“There exists a reasonable possibility of conflict, or at minimum the appearance of conflict, that could impair Defendant’s right to independent and unencumbered representation,” the motion stated.
Judge Covello denied the motion, saying that a conflict cannot be declared prior to someone being appointed.
Covello asked Powell if she was requesting a public defender be assigned to her case. Powell said she’d like to continue representing herself, at least for Monday’s hearing, which Covello allowed.
The next court date was set for May 18.
