Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

Re: Election Law

Sure. For example, former D.C. Mayor (and former alleged crackhead) Marion Barry was elected to the D.C. City Council. Adam Clayton Powell won re-election to the House (but then they expelled him). Usually to get elected to public office as a convicted felon, one must be very popular, and the felony conviction should already be known to the voters (having the story leaked to the papers the Sunday before the election can be very bad). Read the book, "Hardball" by TV pundit Chris Matthews.

Re: Election Law

I disagree with the general statement of the other answer. Each state has its own restrictions, what we call disabilities, resulting from a felony conviction. Some of those restrictions include the loss of civil rights. One of those rights is the loss of the right to vote. Another is the loss of the right to hold public office. Each state has its own procedure to remove the disability. There are specific procedures to follow to allow you to regain the right to vote and the right to run for office. The disability also is different under state law and federal law. For example, while under California law you can regain your right to possess a firearm after a felony conviction, you can NEVER regain that right under federal law (See 18 USC 922(g)). So while it is POSSIBLE to regain your right to run for office, it is not as simple as being "popular".