SLO County GOP cried election fraud — then endorsed a fraudulent candidate | Opinion (2025)

For years, the Republican Party of San Luis Obispo County has been making unfounded allegations of election fraud.

It’s clamored for reforms, going so far as to suggest hand-counting ballots and limiting vote-by-mail.

Ironically, it turns out that one of worst election frauds in recent years was carried out by a candidate endorsed by the local Republican Party.

Michelle Morrow, 55, ran as a write-in for District 3 supervisor last year under a false address. She also used a fake address when she voted.

She will soon go to jail for her crimes — and the local Republican Party is taking some heat for that.

“This is another candidate that was endorsed by the local Republican Party. Maybe the local party just doesn’t know how to find qualified people to run,” one person posted on Cal Coast News.

It’s true that this might have been avoided had someone in the party done some digging.

Instead, the SLO County GOP gave Morrow its endorsement, apparently without much — or maybe any — vetting.

That is not a good look for the party that has made life hell for election officials — the county’s previous clerk-recorder was practically run out of town — and is now pushing for California to require voters to show identification before they are allowed to cast a ballot.

Perhaps it should start by policing its own candidates to make sure they are eligible to run for office.

Candidate promised to ‘eliminate corruption’

It’s not like there weren’t any red flags; Morrow’s candidacy was sketchy from the get go.

She initially tried to file candidacy papers in January for the March primary, but had not met the county’s requirement that candidates live at least 30 days in the district where they intend to run.

Morrow returned after the 30 days were up, giving a District 3 address when she actually lived in District 4.

During her short campaign, she shared little information about her background, her qualifications for office or her platform, though in a Facebook post she said that she supports Proposition 13 and, if elected, would focus on water, homelessness, housing and fentanyl. She also promised to “eliminate corruption.”

Her lies eventually caught up with her.

On Sept. 11, 2024, the District Attorney’s Office filed four criminal charges against her relating to filing false documents, perjury and fraudulent voting.

The complaint also alleged that she tried to bully her way out of the situation:

“The defendant threatened witnesses, unlawfully prevented and dissuaded witnesses from testifying, suborned perjury, and in any other way illegally interfered with the judicial process.”

Morrow wound up pleading no contest to filing a false declaration of candidacy and fraudulent attempts to vote — both felonies. She was sentenced this week to three months in County Jail and two years probation and ordered to pay a $1,000 fine.

That’s a steep price to pay for the paltry 866 write-in votes she received in last year’s primary election. The winner, incumbent Supervisor Dawn Ortiz-Legg, finished with 12,272 votes.

Why lie?

Morrow has declined interview requests, and most court proceedings took place behind closed doors.

Her attorney, Jim Murphy, sought to have certain court records sealed, but after The Tribune objected, the court released a pre-sentencing report from the Probation Department.

But it doesn’t appear the Morrow was forthcoming during her interview with probation.

“She stated she got sick, and her pride got in her way,” the report says. (The nature of her illness has not been disclosed.)

The report also says she expressed no remorse and “demonstrated a pattern of deceptive behavior” — she initially claimed she was living in Santa Maria, which proved to be untrue.

The Probation Department recommended 180 days in County Jail, though the judge cut that in half.

So, Morrow’s conduct remains a mystery.

She must have known that she could not possibly defeat the incumbent.

There was too much going against her: She was a write-in candidate who entered the race at the last possible moment and she was running in a Democrat-majority district.

So why would a woman with no criminal record take such a risk?

Did she believe she would get away with it?

Was it an ideological move? Did she so desire to give conservative voters an alternative to Ortiz-Legg — a moderate Democrat — that she didn’t care about the consequences?

Or was she talked into it? If so, whoever did the talking did her no favors.

What we do know is this: Michelle Morrow repeatedly lied to the voters of San Luis Obispo County.

That reflects badly not only on her, but also on her political party.

If nothing else, this should be a lesson to everyone in the political arena — whether there is a “D” or an “R” next to their name — who deals with recruiting and vetting candidates for public office.

To quote a phrase often used by a respected Republican president: “Trust, but verify.”