Former Assembly District 30 candidate Neil Kitchens charged with voter registration fraud

Neil Kitchens, the 2018 Republican candidate for Assembly District 30, entered a not guilty plea in court, Thursday, June 27. Kitchens is facing 2 counts of voter registration fraud and 3 counts of procuring and offering a false or forged instrument. The maximum penalty is 3 years and 8 months in prison. The Monterey County District Attorney's Office reports that the charges come from 2 actions taken by Kitchens in March of 2018 where Kitchens registered to vote on March 8 using an address in Salinas. However, while Kitchens owns the property, the DA's office says that Kitchens does not live there. Instead, he rents out the property. Salinas is in the AD 30 district boundaries, but Prunedale, where the DA's office accuses Kitchens of actually living, is not. The second alleged action is from March 20 where the DA's office says Kitchens filed to run for AD 30 using the Salinas address. The findings came through an investigation by the California Secretary of State's Office.
There was also an FPPC investigation into Kitchens' campaign before the 2018 election.
Political consultant Christian Schneider has accused Kitchens of the same allegations as the DA's office charges. Schneider's company, Pivotal Campaign Services, was hired to work for Bill Lipe, who lost to Kitchens in the primary. Schneider says Kitchens' alleged actions cheated voters.
Kitchens ended up losing to Robert Rivas in the general election is now seeking public office again. A campaign committee was recently filed to support a Kitchens bid for State Senate District 17 in 2020.