Editor’s note: This story has been updated with additional information from the Riverside County Registrar of Voters.
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The Riverside County District Attorney’s Office (DA) last week charged Menifee City Council District 4 Candidate Randy Madrid with four felony counts following a public corruption investigation.
“The case was initiated after investigators with the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office received an official complaint regarding Madrid’s residency status,” the office said in a statement. “A subsequent investigation determined that Madrid did not live within the city of Menifee, despite claiming to do so on his official registration and candidate filing paperwork.”
Madrid, who recently resigned from his position on the city’s planning commission, has been charged with two felony counts of perjury, one felony count of filing causing, procuring or allowing false voter registration and one felony count of filing a false nomination or declaration of candidacy, according to the complaint.
Madrid surrendered September 10 and was booked at the Robert Pressley Detention Center where he was released after posting $30,000 bail, according to the DA’s office.
In an interview with The Riverside Record, Madrid denied any wrongdoing, and said the charges were the result of a real estate deal falling through.
He said he was recruited to run for the District 4 seat and had the support of a number of builders and developers. The only problem was that he didn’t live in the city, let alone the district.
Madrid, who lives in Lake Elsinore, filed his paperwork with the Menifee City Clerk using the address of a home he was in the process of buying, which he said the clerk knew. He said the clerk told him he also needed to register to vote at that address in order to be eligible to run for office, which he did.
“I was working on buying the house,” he said. “I used that address with every intention to live there, but the deal fell through.”
Madrid said after the deal fell through, he canceled his voter registration at the address, but when he asked the city clerk if he could withdraw from the election following mounting pressure, he was told the deadline had already passed.
The Riverside County Registrar of Voters (ROV) said in an email to The Record that Madrid would remain on the ballot. The ROV also confirmed Madrid is currently registered to vote in Lake Elsinore.
“The filing of criminal charges does not, by itself, remove a qualified candidate from the ballot,” Elizabeth Florer, public information officer for the ROV, said. “The withdrawal deadline was August 7, 2026. Any change to Madrid’s ballot status would have to occur through the applicable legal process.”
Florer added that the city of Menifee completed its candidate filing and qualification process, in which Madrid qualified August 5.
According to the city’s website, there are two other candidates running for the seat, Frank Sandoval and Daniel Stephens.
Concerns about Madrid’s residency were first reported by Menifee 24/7, after Madrid inquired whether he would be able to withdraw from the election. The news outlet was also first to report Madrid had resigned from his position on the planning commission, a position he was most recently appointed to by Councilmember Dean Deines.
City ordinance requires commissioners to be both registered voters in and residents of the city. Deines did not immediately respond to The Record’s request for comment about Madrid’s appointment.
Madrid said the investigation into his residency was part of an effort to get him off the ballot, though he declined to name who he felt was behind it, stating that it would all come out after he files suit.
“I’m going after these people,” he said. “I’m not going to let them get away with defaming me and slandering me, which is what they’re doing.”
As for the election, Madrid said he was still on the ballot and maintained that he could still win the seat.
“I think it was supposed to happen this way, and I’m not sorry, because I didn’t do anything wrong, because I believed I was going to have that house,” he said. “This happened for a reason, and this is the only way I’m going to clear my name.”
Madrid is scheduled to be arraigned October 23. If convicted on all counts, he faces a maximum of five years in state prison.
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