Surprise! MAGA Candidate Convicted of Election Fraud

Turns out there is election fraud, after all.

For all their browbeating about election fraud, it turns out that Donald Trump’s MAGA acolytes aren’t following election laws.

Gaea Powell, a Moms for Liberty activist and loyal Trump supporter who ran for the clerk-recorder position in San Luis Obispo County, California, earlier this year, is facing up to eight years in prison after she was found guilty on nine counts of election fraud last week. That included lying about her place of residence, unlawfully registering to vote, and fraudulently voting, according to SFGate.

The charges stemmed from Powell’s previous bids for high office, when she ran for mayor of Arroyo Grande in 2022 and 2024. At the time, Powell campaigned on some of Trump’s own election conspiracy talking points, honing in on the “integrity of local elections.”

Yet at the same time, Powell had lied to local officials about her true place of residence. In campaign filings—and under penalty of perjury—she swore that she lived inside the Arroyo Grande city limits, as required of local mayoral candidates. She did not.

Powell also failed to follow local laws regarding campaign earnings above $2,000. On June 30, 2022, Powell pledged that she did not intend to raise or spend more than that sum. Then she took an “active role” in raising and spending more than that on campaign mailers, without notifying local officials, according to a press release by the district attorney’s office.

Despite the jury verdict (and just like the president), Powell has refused to acknowledge the evidence or admit wrongdoing.

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

She still intends to appeal the verdict.

“I may have lost this battle. But this is not the end of the legal fight,” Powell continued. “I intend to pursue every appropriate post-trial remedy and to appeal this case. And just as importantly, another chapter is only beginning.”

Texas GOP Candidate Has Long History of Calling for Public Executions

Bo French may have deleted his posts—but the internet never forgets.

A Republican candidate for statewide office in Texas regularly called for public executions in social media posts that he has since deleted.

Bo French, who is running to head the Texas Railroad Commission, posted about publicly executing political opponents including President Obama, CNN reports. The posts span six years, with the most recent post in February 2025, in which French mentioned hangings, gallows, and other forms of public executions.

Those posts were either deleted by French or removed for violating X’s rules, though it remains unclear. French also made similar posts on an account he used in unsuccessful campaigns for the Texas statehouse in 2016 and 2018, before the account was suspended.

In 2020, while President Trump was under investigation for his campaign’s ties to the Russian government, French called for the death penalty for “Obama conspirators,” including then House Intelligence Committee Chair Adam Schiff.

“It’s time we drop the hammer on these treasonous bastards and punish them with the full measure of justice. #HangEmHigh,” French posted.

He also called for Obama’s death using the same hashtag.

“The penalty for treason used to be death. Even for a former president. #HangEmHigh,” French wrote.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott, Attorney General Ken Paxton, and the state’s Republican Party have thus far refused to disavow........

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