Four days after announcing the suspension of her campaign for Stockton City Council’s District 5 seat, Desiree Lynch says she is back in the race.
In an email sent to Stockton Deputy City Clerk Gabriel Searcy obtained by Stocktonia on Tuesday, Lynch said she will again compete for the role representing south central Stockton.
“After further consideration, I have decided to remain in the race for Stockton City Council District 5,” Lynch said in the email. “Please accept this as my formal decision.”
In a text sent to Stocktonia on Tuesday evening, Lynch said “this campaign is bigger than me” and that she would “not be intimidated out of this race.”
“I will not be bullied into silence, and I will not back down,” Lynch said. “What I have experienced has tested me and my family in ways I never expected, but it has also strengthened my resolve.”
Lynch, a registered nurse, announced late Friday that she was withdrawing her candidacy against incumbent Brando Villapudua, citing concerns about her safety, the safety of her family and her health.
At the time, she said the decision to withdraw from the election “was not an easy choice, but after careful consideration of my personal circumstances and the best interests of our community, I believe it is the right step at this time.”
She did not immediately provide a reason for the abrupt about-face. Attempts to reach her and her campaign staff Tuesday were unsuccessful.
Legally, Lynch never left the race. Her name would have remained on the Nov. 3 ballot whether she was actively campaigning or not.
The matchup between Lynch and Villapudua follows a tightly contested primary election in June. Of the three City Council contests, District 5 had the smallest margin between the top two finishers, with Villapudua besting Lynch by only 117 votes. Because neither received more than 50% of the vote, the two advanced to the general election.
Residency questions preceded withdrawal
The announcement last week of Lynch’s withdrawal from the race came after weeks of public questions over whether she lived at the Stockton address she listed while running for office.
Former Stockton Mayor Anthony Silva has publicly alleged Lynch does not live in District 5, citing videos recorded inside an East Oak Street apartment listed on Lynch’s campaign paperwork and a property record associated with her at an address in Lodi.
Stocktonia reviewed Lynch’s candidate paperwork, which lists an East Oak Street apartment as her residence and has not independently verified whether she resided there during the campaign qualifying period. Lynch was asked last week to address questions about her residency and provide documentation supporting it, but did not respond.
Lynch and Vice Mayor Jason Lee instead raised concerns about how Silva and former Vice Mayor Ralph White gained access to the apartment. In a July 28 news release, Lee called on the Stockton Police Department to investigate what he described as the unlawful entry into Lynch’s home.
Lynch said in the release that having her home entered, filmed and publicly exposed left her feeling “deeply violated and unsafe.”
At the time, she said she would not be intimidated and remained committed to her campaign. She filed for a temporary restraining order against Silva and White on July 29. A hearing is scheduled for Thursday in the case in San Joaquin County Superior Court.
Stocktonia has not independently verified the circumstances under which White and Silva are alleged to have entered the apartment.
Villapudua and Mayor Christina Fugazi have also asked for investigations into the question of Lynch’s residency, and Fugazi wanted the investigation to continue, regardless of Lynch’s status in the race.
“If our procedures failed, we need to know how they failed,” the mayor said. “If information was inaccurate, we need to understand how it entered the process. If our verification standards were inadequate or inconsistently applied, they need to be corrected.”
Stocktonia staff writer Andrea Baltodano contributed this report.