Gavin Newsom spent years warning America that Donald Trump would use the legal system as a weapon against his political enemies.
Now California's ballot count is eight days old, the results keep flipping, and Newsom has a new law he's pointing directly at Trump.
What Newsom said next could put the president of the United States in a California prison.
Ballots That Keep Changing the Answer
California held its open primary on June 2.
Eight days later, the counting is still going.
On election night, former reality TV star Spencer Pratt appeared to be heading into a November runoff against incumbent Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.
Then the mail-in ballots started arriving.
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By June 9, progressive City Councilwoman Nithya Raman – a candidate previously backed by the Democratic Socialists of America – had overtaken Pratt entirely.
The Associated Press projected Raman as the second-place finisher while Pratt hadn't conceded.
California law gives county officials up to 30 days after Election Day to count ballots.
Final results in California's June 2 primary don't have to be reported to the secretary of state until July 3.
Trump called it out directly, accusing California Democrats of trying to "steal" the governor's race and the LA mayoral primary through the slow-count process.
He's not wrong to be suspicious.
Newsom's New Weapon
Here's where this gets dangerous for every American who questions California's banana republic ballot system.
On May 27 – one week before the primary – Newsom signed Senate Bill 73 under an "urgency clause," meaning it took effect the same day he signed it.
The official press release described it as a response to "growing threats of election interference and intimidation, including efforts by allies of President Donald Trump to undermine confidence in elections."
Read that carefully.
"Undermine confidence in elections" is not a criminal act anywhere in America.
Or it wasn't, until Newsom decided it was.
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The law itself targets unauthorized law enforcement access to ballots and voting equipment – triggered when Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, a Republican gubernatorial candidate, seized more than 650,000 certified ballots from last fall's special election.
Newsom used Bianco as the excuse.
After Trump posted his fraud concerns online, Newsom went to X and delivered a direct threat to the sitting president of the United States.
"Trump says voter fraud should land people in prison," Newsom wrote.
"Agreed. And let's start with the politicians spreading election lies with the goal of illegally interfering with counting ballots."
Then the kicker: "In California, I just signed a law making that punishable with up to 3 years behind bars. More to come. FAFO, Donald."
The Law Doesn't Actually Say That
The text of Senate Bill 73 contains nothing about "politicians spreading election lies."
Nothing about "illegally interfering with counting ballots" through speech.
Nothing that criminalizes questioning election results.
Newsom is telling Trump – and every conservative commentator, every Republican politician, every citizen who asks "how does an election-night leader disappear over eight days of counting" – that he has a law he can creatively apply to them.
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That is not the behavior of a governor running a legitimate election process.
That is the behavior of a man who knows the process looks wrong and wants to silence the people pointing it out.
The Biden years gave Democrats a playbook: use the legal system to bury political opponents in investigations, indictments, and process crimes until they run out of money or will.
Newsom is telling Democrat primary voters that if he reaches the White House in 2028, he will deploy that playbook nationally – with three-year prison sentences attached.
Your right to say "something looks wrong with this election" is now what Gavin Newsom considers a crime.
Sources:
- Michael Schwarz, "Gavin Newsom Claims New Law Could Mean Prison for Trump and Other Americans Questioning California Election Process," The Western Journal, June 9, 2026.
- "Governor Newsom Signs SB 73 to Protect California Elections from Interference," Governor of California official press release, May 27, 2026.
- "Spencer Pratt or Nithya Raman? See updated primary election results in the race for LA mayor," NBC Los Angeles, June 6, 2026.
- "Trump Accuses California Democrats of 'Cheating' Over Pace of Vote Counts," Time, June 4, 2026.
- "Newsom Signs Bill Restricting Law Enforcement Access to California Ballots," CBS Sacramento, May 27, 2026.
