California Gov. Gavin Newsom to send election attorneys to counter federal poll watchers

Lia Russell, The Sacramento Bee on Oct 29, 2026

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SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Gov. Gavin Newsom and the California Democratic Party are sending teams of election law attorneys to five congressional districts to guard against federal intervention in next week’s midterms after the White House accused the state of allowing noncitizens to illegally vote in recent elections.

The volunteer lawyers, poll volunteers and hotline operators, in coordination with the state Democratic Party, will appear at election offices in the following areas: the Sacramento-area 6th District; the 13th and 22nd districts in the Central Valley; the 45th District in Orange County; and the 48th District in the San Diego suburbs.

The 134 attorneys will monitor ballot counts starting on Election Day and remain there for “as long as necessary,” Newsom’s campaign said Wednesday. The state Democratic Party will also have on hand 1,000 voter protection volunteers and 54 operators to man hotlines for reports of ballot interference and legal rapid response.

“Donald Trump doesn’t get to decide which votes count, which ballots get counted, or who wins an election. California voters do,” said Party Chair Rusty Hicks in a statement. “That’s why the California Democratic Party is mobilizing volunteers, deploying voter protection teams and working around the clock to ensure every eligible Californian can cast their ballot, every legal vote is counted, and no one is denied their voice in our democracy.”

Newsom announced the news on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!," hours after a federal judge blocked the U.S. Department of Justice from forcing the state to set aside 20,000 ballots they said were fraudulently cast by noncitizens.

The outgoing governor framed the ongoing lawsuit as an eleventh-hour attempt from President Donald Trump to subvert the outcome of the midterms, in which Democrats are predicted to win enough seats to claim a House majority.

“This is going to be a blue tsunami,” Newsom told show host Jimmy Kimmel. “It’s a legitimate open question about (Democrats winning) the Senate. But the House of Representatives is a fait accompli. Finally, we’ll reinstate a co-equal branch of government, not a supine Congress like we know it today.”

Newsom previously said he would decide whether to run for president in 2028 after the midterms, in which he has been one of his party’s most vocal champions as it seeks a comeback after the 2024 election.

On Wednesday, he reiterated that the decision would hinge upon receiving approval from his wife, First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom, and their four children.

Last year, Newsom led a successful voter initiative to redraw California’s congressional districts to make them easier for Democrats to win. That included specific efforts to redraw 13th, 22nd and the 48th districts, which are either Republican-held or considered battleground areas for Democrats in this year’s midterms.

Newsom pointed towards the 2021 Capitol insurrection, Trump’s sending the National Guard to quell protests in Los Angeles, and an ongoing federal probe into his and Siebel Newsom’s finances as evidence that the White House would try to suppress votes in California, the U.S.’s most reliably Democratic state.

“He’s not screwing around,” Newsom said. “There’s a ruthlessness of Donald Trump, and so again, with love and respect to my party, the Democratic Party, for things to change, we need to change, and that just got to be more ruthless ourselves.”

The California Department of Justice and Secretary of State’s Office have sent poll watchers to counter federal election monitors in the last two elections, “to ensure that voters felt safe, that the law was followed, and that no one was discouraged from casting a ballot,” according to a spokesperson for Attorney General Rob Bonta.

“We’re ready to do that again,” the unnamed spokesperson said in an email.

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