KELLY HONIG STATEMENT
Last week the California Secretary of State informed me that I did not qualify for the ballot for Assembly District 42 for the June 2nd primary election. I sued to be placed on the ballot and yesterday the Sacramento County Superior Court ruled against my petition to appear on the June 2, 2026 primary ballot. This is immensely disappointing. devastating and a failure of our election system. At every step of the way, I followed every instruction given to me by election officials. They failed, and now the voters lose.
This entire matter stems from an error in the misfiling of a form. The full story matters and here are the facts: When I first visited the Ventura County Registrar’s office, I asked the elections staff directly whether I could file my paperwork in either county since Assembly District 42 is a dual county district.. They said yes. They never told me I was required to file my Declaration of Candidacy in Los Angeles County.
On February 9, 2026, I returned to the Ventura County Registrar's office, was given a Declaration of Candidacy form, filled it out, and filed it. The elections official accepted it, took my filing fee, gave me a receipt, and issued my nomination papers. No one said a word about this form being filed in the wrong county.
Two weeks later, I returned again and submitted my full set of nomination documents, including my nomination petitions with signatures from Ventura County voters, and all the additional required forms. The elections official went through every document with his supervisor to confirm everything was in order. He then went through the official receipt with me item by item, confirming each document had been filed, including my Declaration of Candidacy. He administered the oath of office to me and told me my filings were complete. At no point did anyone tell me I had made an error.
On February 25, nine business days before the filing deadline of March 6th, I went to the LA County Registrar's office and filed the Los Angeles County nominating petition signatures and my candidate statement. I showed them my Ventura County receipts. I asked them directly if I needed to file anything else. They said no. They knew I had filed my Declaration of Candidacy in Ventura County and said nothing.
On March 3, three days before the filing deadline, I spoke directly with Attorney Kathrine Kelly of the Secretary of State's office and asked her if my filings were in order. She said yes. She had my complete file from Ventura County sitting in front of her and there was still time to fix any error. She assured me everything was in order.
Then, 13 days after the filing deadline had passed, the Secretary of State sent me an email saying I did not qualify for the ballot -- approximately 6 weeks after they received my filing fee from Ventura County and nearly a month after I filed. Three separate government offices had every opportunity to notify me of this error given how early I filed. They failed to do so.
I did everything I was told to do. I asked the right questions. I followed the guidance of election officials at every step. Now, the voters of the 42nd District are being denied a choice between Democratic candidates because our election officials failed us due to a simple procedural error that could have been easily corrected.
To make matters worse, the California Democratic Party and the Attorney General’s office both filed briefs asking the Court to keep me - a Democratic candidate - off the ballot. The voters of the 42nd District will not have a choice between two Democratic candidates in this race. That is a failure of our election system, and a case of the party establishment looking after its own.
One of the many reasons I was running for office was to help make the government more efficient and accountable. This case clearly demonstrates why people are so frustrated with our current system. This level of incompetence is exactly why so many people fall through the cracks and never get the help they need. The people charged with running our elections failed me and the voters, and as a result I have been denied my right to run for state office based solely on a procedural error. The people of the 42nd District deserve answers and deserve a choice in this race. and The Democratic party did everything in its power to deny me and the voters that choice. This is the exact opposite of democracy.
To everyone who stood by us in this campaign and believed in what we were building together: I am so grateful. This is not the outcome any of us wanted, but your passion and commitment meant everything to me. I will be refunding all contributions made to my campaign.
I have met so many amazing and inspiring people throughout this process. From the bottom of my heart, thank you for all the encouragement and support you have given me.
With gratitude and appreciation,
Kelly
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