A sex offender who launched a controversial bid for Fresno City Councilfailed to get the 20 signatures neededto make the ballot, marking an embarrassing exit for the much-reviled campaign.
Rene Campos requested his candidacy paperwork Friday for a place on the ballot and took the oath of office, calling it “a powerful moment.”
But an elections official said Campos hadn’t yet delivered the signatures required for him to enter the race — and he was nowhere to be seen at the Friday deadline.
In a statement, Campos copped to his inability to secure the 20 signatures.
“To the people of Fresno. Today I was unable to obtain the required nomination signatures before the filing deadline, and I will not appear on the ballot for the Fresno City Council District 7 race,” he said, according toto Fox 26.
“This campaign was a fight. There were attacks, pressure, and moments when standing up meant standing completely alone. But I stood anyway. I fought anyway. Again and again — because the Constitution is not defended when it is easy, it is defended when someone is willing to stand in the storm.”
Campos raised eyebrows when he announced that he would run for political office last month, despite a past charge of possession of child sex abuse material in 2018.
Last week, an elementary school in Fresno filed a police report after he held a press conference just steps away from the grounds.
Until 2015, California law prohibited registered sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of any school or park in the state.
“That was his 15 minutes of fame,” AJ Rassamni, a candidate for the District 7 seat,told ABC 30.
Source: California Post – Breaking California News, Photos & Videos
