California political candidate accused of election fraud for listing dive bar as her home address

A Stockton city council hopeful has been hit with felony charges over allegations she falsely listed a local dive bar as her home address to show she lived in the district she wants to represent.

Prosecutors announced the arrest of Desiree Lynch on five felony counts, including three counts of perjury, causing or allowing false voter registration, and filing a false nomination or declaration of candidacy. 

Investigators determined Lynch was living in Stockton’s District 1, outside the boundaries of the District 5, where her home addresses were listed.

She allegedly submitted addresses for Harry’s Cocktail Lounge on E. Charter Way and the Doyle Garden Apartments on E. Oak Street as her residences.

Lynch prmoted herself as a mother and nurse who wanted to deliver “real solutions for working families” as a councilmember.

She campaign on promises to clean up City Hall and Stockton’s streets.

“Stockton residents are frustrated, angry, and heartbroken by what’s happening in our city. Infighting at City Hall, neglect of our neighborhoods, and rising crime have left too many people questioning whether our leaders are truly listening,” her campaign website said.

The candidate was booked in jail on $100,000 bail and faces up to six-plus years in prison if found guilty. 

Prosecutors called Lynch an “opportunist” who cheated the system.

“The integrity of our elections is the bedrock of our democratic process, and we must ensure that every election is run fairly and without fraud,” the San Joaquin County District Attorney’s Office said in a statement. “The constituents of this community deserve a representative who actually lives in their neighborhoods, not an opportunist manufacturing a fake address to cheat the system.”

Stockton Mayor Christina Fugazi’s office had asked Lynch to suspend her campaign last week, but she refused just hours before her arrest.

“If questions were serious enough to raise concerns about the integrity of the process before today, they remain serious enough to answer tomorrow,” Fugazi said in a statement. 

Lynch is expected to appear at the San Joaquin County Superior Courthouse in downtown Stockton on Thursday.