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Rene Campos is running for Fresno City Council District 7 in the 2026 primary election.<\/p>\n
PROVIDED: RENE CAMPOS<\/p>\n
Some members of the Fresno City Council said they plan to introduce legislation to block registered sex offenders from serving on the council in an effort to disqualify a candidate<\/a> in the crowded race for the District 7 seat<\/a>.<\/p>\n The City Council primary race gained national attention this month after The Bee reported on Rene Campos, a registered sex offender who plans to run for the council seat representing Old Fig Garden and other neighborhoods.<\/p>\n In 2021, Campos pleaded no contest to a 2018 charge of possession of child pornography and served two years of formal probation.<\/p>\n Registration for a sexual offense does not generally disqualify a person from running for office, but it does come with restrictions, including prohibitions on entering schools and unsupervised contact with minors under California\u2019s Megan\u2019s Law.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile I respect anybody\u2019s ability to serve our community, I find this quite disturbing that we could possibly have somebody of this nature within our government buildings,\u201d Councilmember Annalisa Perea said at a Thursday meeting. \u201cI think if you want to be an effective councilmember, you need to at the very least be able to go onto school campuses.\u201d<\/p>\n Perea, as well as Councilmembers Miguel Arias, Nelson Esparza and Nick Richardson, said they plan to work on future legislation at the city and state level that would limit a registered sex offender\u2019s ability to be a councilmember.<\/p>\n \u201cThese are public chambers,\u201d Arias said. \u201cAny given Thursday, we have kids in this room. We have families, and the last thing I want to be concerned about is whether there is a registered sex offender in these chambers.\u201d<\/p>\n Campos did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but told The Bee in early February that he is not hiding from his former conviction and has grown from it.<\/p>\n He is running for the District 7 seat, which includes east-central and parts of southeast Fresno.<\/p>\n Campos 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<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll be blunt. I\u2019ve had a very hard life, and it\u2019s these life experiences that have pushed me towards helping people,\u201d he said this month in an interview.<\/p>\n Rene Campos is running for Fresno City Council District 7 in the 2026 primary election. PROVIDED: RENE CAMPOS <\/p>\n