Related article: “‘I felt attacked’: Sex offender running for Fresno council seat speaks out after councilmember comments” [2/27/26 yourcentralvalley.com]
Rene Campos, who is a registered sex offender, intends to run in the crowded Fresno City Council race for the District 7 seat in the June primary election.
In 2021, Campos pleaded no contest to a 2018 charge of possession of child pornography and served two years of formal probation.
“It’s not something I want to hide from,” Campos said. “It is my past. It is public record. It is something I’ve learned from and something that I’m growing from.”
Campos told The Bee that his main driver for running for City Council comes from his personal experiences of dealing with homelessness as a teenager and facing biases as a gay man. He says this background equips him to better understand and serve the community despite his former conviction.
“I’ll be blunt. I’ve had a very hard life, and it’s these life experiences that have pushed me towards helping people,” he said. If elected, some of his key priorities include supporting small businesses, implementing job training programs and economic stability for working families.
Campos has worked in the food service industry for over 10 years. He worked his way from cook to a management position at McDonald’s. Campos later transferred to a general manager position at Wendy’s, where he worked for…
LOVE IT!! Hope he wins.
Progress is not made in the by being in the shadows doing nothing. Whether he wins or not – more power to him.
I hope Renee does not receive death threats like I did (received more than 100 of them) when I ran for mayor of a small town at the request of business leaders even knowing of my attempted offense and knowing I was still on deferred adjudication and on the registry.
I wish him the best.
I couldn’t read the full article but I’m so happy he is running for office. Godspeed!
Brave is putting it mildly.
I wish I was there and could vote for him!!!
This is a candidate who should be supported regardless of his past. Looking at pictures isn’t the worst thing a person can do. What do I know though I’m just walking and looking around scratching my head.
He’s got the right idea. Don’t let the system, the media and society use fear, guilt and shame against us.
Defuse the shame and stigma by not giving AF what people think.
And when someone cliams: “you are minimizing,” you respond back with: “no, you’re over-selling culpability with your guilt-by-association framing.”
I envite others to link the original article for a more complete view. Also, just for laughs, scroll down and read the few ridiculous comments posted. People are seriously misinformed.
Nothing but hope and well wishes for his success.
This guy’s campaign story is making the mass media rounds as seen tonight on TV and it wasn’t good.