CA: Fresno looks into banning sex offenders from city council meetings

Source: yourcentralvalley.com 3/17/26 FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – The City of Fresno is looking into banning sex offenders from attending city council meetings and installing facial recognition technology to enforce it.   This comes after a registered sex offender attempted to run for the District 7 seat. Rene Campos filed earlier this month but didn’t get enough required signatures to appear on the ballot. But voters can still write in his name. “I mean, I never thought the voters would actually support someone like that,” said Fresno City Councilmember Mike Karbassi.  At the next city council meeting…

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CA: Nonprofit vows to fight proposed California ban on sex offenders in public office

Source: fresnobee.com 3/4/26 An advocacy group is threatening to file a lawsuit challenging a proposal to ban registered sex offenders from running for public office in California with the intent to block a Fresno City Council candidate’s campaign. Spurred by the crowded District 7 race that includes Rene Campos, a registered sex offender, Assemblywoman Esmeralda Soria said she will amend an existing bill, AB 2753, to include language prohibiting any registered sex offender in California from running for state or local office. Five Fresno City Council members also said last…

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CA: California school files police report after sex offender, city hall candidate, holds event near campus

Source: desertsun.com 3/3/26 Officials at a Fresno elementary school filed a police report after a City Council candidate who is a registered sex offender held a news conference across the street from the campus during weekday afternoon hours, raising questions about public safety and who is legally allowed to run for and serve in public office in California. Rene Campos, 41, a candidate in Fresno’s District 7 City Council race, held the press conference Friday afternoon outside Saint John’s Cathedral in downtown Fresno, according to reporting by The Fresno Bee. The church sits directly…

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CA: Fresno leaders plan to block registered sex offender from serving on City Council

Source: fresnobee.com 2/26/26 Related article: “‘I felt attacked’: Sex offender running for Fresno council seat speaks out after councilmember comments” [2/27/26 yourcentralvalley.com] 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 in the crowded race for the District 7 seat. 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…

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SD: Sex offender, Chamberlain man running for SD governor

Source: keloland.com 8/4/25 CHAMBERLAIN, S.D. (KELO) — 44-year-old Terry Gleason of Chamberlain acknowledges the uphill battle he faces. “I am an unknown,” Gleason said Saturday. “Not very many people know me, and so it is a long shot, but I feel at the same time, some of the other candidates are also long shots. I think I have just as much to give to South Dakota as any other candidate.” Gleason is a registered Republican running as an independent for governor of South Dakota in 2026. KELOLAND News interviewed him in…

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NY: Friends Urging Convicted Sex Offender Anthony Weiner to Run for NYC Mayor

Source: headtopics.com 5/1/23 Friends of former Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY), a convicted sex offender, are urging him to run for political office again. sex offender, are urging him to run for political office again — making a comeback by pitching himself as a moderate Democrat to rebuild New York City. Curtis Sliwa, the former GOP mayoral candidate for New York City, said he and others are encouraging Weiner to run for office again. “He has been encouraged to run for office by me and others,” Sliwa said on his 77…

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NC: Registrant running in part to correct failures in justice system

Source: reflector.com 4/19/21 A candidate for Greenville City Council said his conviction in 2009 for indecent liberties with a child, which landed him on the state’s sex offender registry, was due to systemic problems with the judicial system. William ___, 68, of Greenville was found guilty by a Pitt County jury on two counts of indecent liberties with a child on April 22, 2009. He served two consecutive sentences totaling three years and two months for the crime that court documents said took place July 1-8 of 2007. According to…

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CA: Another convicted sex offender running for student body president at RCC

[pe.com – 5/23/21] For the second time in the past eight years, a convicted sex offender is running unopposed for student body president at Riverside City College, and once again it is generating quite a stir among some students. Since enrolling at RCC in January 2019, Albert Steven Jaramillo, 45, of Moreno Valley has been a model student and taken an active role in student government and leadership. Less than three years since his release from prison, he is seeking office in a special election this week, May 25 through…

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UK: Hartlepool Member of Parliament candidate is revealed as convicted sex offender – and explains why he is seeking election

[gazettelive.co.uk – 4/21/21] A registered sex offender has been confirmed as a candidate in the upcoming Hartlepool by-elections. Christopher ______, who is on the ballot for the May 6 vote, was sentenced for voyeurism last year for filming a naked woman in a hotel room while she was asleep. … Christopher ______ has since moved to Hartlepool where he is seeking to stand for MP [Member of Parliament]. Asked whether he intended to tell the electorate about his convictions, he said: “I started this process planning to tell everyone, but…

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TX: Convicted sex offender declared ineligible to run for Arlington mayor

[dallasnews.com – 4/12/21] A convicted sex offender has been ruled ineligible to run for Arlington mayor, but his name will remain on the ballot because the deadline has passed to remove it, according to the city secretary’s office. Jerry Warden was one of eight candidates vying for the position of mayor. The city initially ruled that Warden could remain in the race after another candidate filed a complaint, but reversed that decision last week. Warden holds a lifetime listing on the Texas Public Sex Offenders Registry after being convicted in…

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TX: Convicted sex offender allowed to remain in Arlington mayoral race

[dallasnews.com – 2/28/21] Arlington officials say a convicted sex offender can remain on the ballot for mayor after another candidates filed a complaint. Jerry Warden filed for the Arlington mayoral race on Feb. 11, joining seven other residents seeking to become the city’s 27th mayor. Mayor Jeff Williams is serving his third and final term, and is not eligible to run again for the position due to Arlington term limit laws. Warden holds a lifetime listing on the Texas Public Sex Offenders Registry after being convicted in 1996 on charges…

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WA: Why a sex offender would run for office: Willie Russell’s story

[washingtonstatewire.com – 8/20/19] Willie Russell is running for the Snohomish County Council this year. He squeaked through the August primary, and will face Stephanie Wright in November for Council position 3. He is also a Level III sex offender. You can read the narrative from the sheriff’s office database here. I recently spoke with Russell in an extended conversation. I wanted to ask him about his interest in running, and about his campaign. But, I was particularly interested in understanding why, with his background, he would be willing to put…

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