SACRAMENTO, California (LifeSiteNews) — Legislation to bar registered sex offenders from political office in California died in the state Senate amid efforts to narrow the number of offenders it would affect.
Introduced by Democrat state Assemblywoman Esmeralda Soria, Assembly Bill 2753 would have established that a “person shall not be considered a candidate for, and is not eligible to be elected to, any state or local elective office” if he or she “has ever been required to register as a sex offender.” State law already disqualifies prospective officeholders who have been “convicted of a felony involving accepting or giving, or offering to give, any bribe, the embezzlement of public money, extortion or theft of public money, perjury, or conspiracy to commit any of those crimes.”
The bill passed the state Assembly 60-0 in May, but KFSN reported that it stalled before the state Senate Elections Committee, where some members objected to applying the bill to all offenders. They argued instead it should only ban Tier 3 sex offenders, the most serious category who must remain on the registry for the rest of their lives.
“It should be a decision made by the voters, so a person should not be barred from running for office and let the voters make the decision that makes the most sense for them,” “civil rights” attorney Janice Bellucci argued.
Soria argued it was a “disservice” to fail to pass the legislation.
Fresno City Council president Nelson Esparza, who traveled to the capital to testify for AB 2753, called it a “gut punch for our community, and what we had experienced here, and sort of the upheaval … I don’t think we want that to happen again here at Fresno.” Earlier in 2026, registered sex offender Rene Campos ran for Fresno City Council but failed to qualify for the ballot. Still, the close call inspired calls to close off the possibility in the future.
Among those who disagreed was far-left homosexual Democrat state Senator and U.S. House candidate Scott Wiener, who suggested the bill would affect crimes too “minor” to be disqualifying.
“This is potentially a very dangerous road we’re going down to say that minor crimes are going to ban you for life for running for office,” he said. “We live in a democracy where people get to run for office, including people who have a lot of flaws.
In 2024, Wiener was involved in watering down legislation that would have strengthened penalties for soliciting sexual activity with a minor that leftists called “overly punitive” and said would criminalize members of the so-called “LGBTQ community.” He helped force the Public Safety Committee to agree to amendments stating that the new felony penalties would only apply to cases involving someone younger than 16 years old.