A Central Valley lawmaker says she will introduce a bill in the state Legislature to ban registered sex offenders from holding elected office in California in an effort to block a Fresno City Council candidate’s campaign.
Assemblywoman Esmeralda Soria, D-Merced, said her proposal was spurred by the crowded council race that includes Rene Campos, a registered sex offender, among its candidates. Soria said she would amend an existing bill, AB 2753, to include language prohibiting any registered sex offender in California from running for office.
Currently, no law or statute in California prohibits registered sex offenders from running for any local or state public office.
“It’s deeply disturbing that this issue is unfolding in my own backyard,” Soria said in a statement. “The idea that a registered sex offender could run for public office in the City of Fresno is unacceptable. This bill will ensure once and for all that registered sex offenders are prohibited from seeking public office in California, so voters can have confidence that those seeking to represent them meet the most basic standards of public trust.”
Campos did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday afternoon.
The Fresno City Council primary race gained national attention last month after The Bee reported on Campos’s campaign for the council seat representing District 7, which includes Old Fig Garden and other neighborhoods.
In 2021, Campos, 41, pleaded no contest to a 2018 misdemeanor charge of possession of child pornography and served two years of formal probation.
Fresno City Council candidate and registered sex offender, Rene Campos, called for a media appearance one day after local leaders said they plan to work on future legislation that would limit a registered sex offender’s ability to be a councilmember. Liliana Fannin
Campos’s campaign to hold office in California’s fifth-largest city has drawn fierce backlash from Democratic and Republican leaders in Fresno. Five City Council members said last week they would push for legislation to ban registered sex offenders from serving on the council.
“If state law prevents candidacy from citizens whose crimes have violated public trust, and that doesn’t yet include the crime of violating the innocence of our youth for some twisted personal pleasure, then it’s missing the mark,” Richardson said.
Campos called a press conference on Friday in response to Fresno council members’ plan to block him from serving on the council.
He told reporters he felt personally attacked by the council members and described their remarks as “institutional overreach.”
Campos faced backlash for hosting the news conference near an elementary school in Downtown Fresno. The school filed a police report against him.
He told The Bee in early February that he is not hiding from his former conviction and has grown from it.
He said his main motivation for running comes from his personal experiences of dealing with homelessness as a teenager and facing biases as a gay man. Campos says this background equips him to better understand and serve the community.
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