Source: Fox 40
(Inside California Politics) — Amid concerns about federal interference in the midterms, California’s three top Democrats are vowing to protect election integrity.
Gov. Gavin Newsom, Senate President Pro Tem Monique Limón and Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas released a joint statement Thursday morning.
“As President Trump escalates his politically motivated assault on California’s safe and secure elections, we will not stand by while he sows distrust and seeks to undermine the fundamental right to vote. Californians have defended this right since the founding of our great state in 1850 — and we will not let Donald Trump burn our Democracy down 175 years later. United across branches of government, we will work together to protect our free and fair elections this November.”
The Democratic leaders said the statement came in response to what they described as “continued threats” by President Donald Trump and his administration to interfere with California elections.
In his State of the Union address last week, Trump baselessly accused Democrats of wanting to cheat in the 2026 midterms.
Democratic lawmakers are already pushing back. This week, state Sens. Tom Umberg, D-Santa Ana, and Sabrina Cervantes, D-Riverside, backed several bills they say will protect voters from possible election interference, including one that would prohibit law enforcement — including ICE officers — within 200 feet of voting centers.
The state lawmakers also support a bill that would block the administration from inspecting voting machines without a federal court order.
“At the end of the day, we know what Trump is going to do because he told us what he’s going to do,” Cervantes said. “He will dismantle elections piece by piece and we will not allow that to happen.”
The Trump Administration did not comment on the bills.