Despite his arrest in March for several public corruption charges, including an alleged conspiracy to traffic firearms, suspended state Sen. Leland Yee (D-San Francisco) placed third in the primary race for California secretary of state.
Yee garnered 287,590 votes, trailing behind Alex Padilla (D) with 884,857 and Pete Peterson (R) with 871,388, The Associated Press reported Wednesday morning.
While Yee withdrew his election bid shortly after his arrest, he did so after the deadline for removing candidate statements from the voter guide had passed, the Los Angeles Times reported, noting Yee’s stated promises to “guarantee fair elections, expose special interests, and prevent corruption.”
San Jose State University political scientist Larry Gerston told the Times that votes for Yee could be largely attributed to sheer ignorance.
“There will be some people who will vote for Yee because they do not know what is going on,” he said.
Yee, an outspoken gun control advocate, was arrested at his home in March on one count of conspiracy to illegally traffic firearms and six counts of depriving the public of honest services. He is currently out on bail and has pleaded not guilty.
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