A Palmdale City Council candidate whose name appeared in Los Angeles County election records under a local school board race never actually filed to run for that seat, election officials said, resolving an unusual filing mix-up that began when a campaign assistant pulled nomination papers for the wrong office.
Raycine Ector is a qualified candidate for Palmdale City Council District 5 in the Nov. 3 general election. But her name also appeared under the Palmdale School District’s Trustee Area 5 race in an online candidate list published as part of the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk’s Candidate Filing Status tool.
The explanation, Ector said, was considerably simpler than the records initially suggested: Her campaign had obtained the wrong paperwork.
“We just basically pulled the wrong papers for the wrong race at that time,” Ector said in an interview Monday.
Ector said a campaign assistant did not realize that the school board and City Council races required candidates to obtain nomination paperwork from different places. Candidates for Palmdale City Council have to make an appointment with the city to pull their papers, Ector said.
Her assistant instead pulled papers for the Palmdale School District Trustee Area 5 race, Ector said. The campaign realized the mistake when it received the paperwork.
“We’re like, ‘Nope, this is for the school board,’” she recalled.
Ector said the campaign contacted the school district and explained that it had pulled the wrong papers. She said they were told not to submit the paperwork if she did not intend to run for the school board seat.
According to Ector, she was also told there was no way to remove her name from the filing system after the school board papers had been pulled; if she did not return the nomination papers by the deadline, she simply would not qualify for the race.
“Don’t submit anything, and you’ll just get knocked off the list when the time comes,” Ector recalled being told.
Ector said the campaign then turned its attention to her intended race, making an appointment with the Palmdale City Clerk to obtain City Council nomination papers.
Los Angeles County election officials confirmed Ector pulled nomination paperwork for the Palmdale School District Trustee Area 5 contest but never filed it.
“Therefore, Raycine is not qualified to be on the ballot for this contest,” Michael Sanchez, a spokesperson for the L.A. County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk’s office, said in an email Monday.
The County’s Candidate Filing Status tool tracks the issuance and filing of nomination papers separately. Ector’s school board entry shows a July 15 date under “NOM Issue Date” while the “NOM File Date” field is blank.
“If paperwork was filed with our office, a date would be in the “NOM File Date” column,” Sanchez said.
The Registrar’s office separately confirmed that Ector filed candidate nomination paperwork with the Palmdale City Clerk for Council District 5.
Palmdale City Clerk Rochelle Scott also confirmed Monday that Ector is a qualified candidate in the City Council race and said her nomination papers were properly returned and accepted.
The city’s candidate records show Ector took out her Council District 5 nomination papers July 15, returned them July 29 and qualified Aug. 4.
The City Council and school board candidacies go through different election authorities. Scott is the election official for Palmdale City Council races, while the Palmdale School District is a separate entity from the city.
Palmdale consolidates its election with Los Angeles County, which provides the city with services including verifying signatures on nomination papers and printing ballots, Scott said.
Ector said the experience illustrates how navigating the mechanics of becoming a candidate can be confusing, particularly for people who are new to campaigns and may not realize that different races involve different filing processes.
“I guess it’s nerve-wracking sometimes for candidates, especially new ones, because this is their first step,” she said. “This is not only a learning experience, but guidance that you have to trust to lead you to the right path.”
Her advice to other candidates was to prepare for the filing process ahead of time and make sure everyone on their campaign is on the same page.
As for the errant school board paperwork, Ector said she wasn’t dwelling on it.
“You don’t let one mix-up or one accident” derail you, she said. “You just gotta stay focused and focus on your goals.”