By Los Angeles County Politics (LACP)
Independent gubernatorial candidate Leonard Jackson is fighting to get his name back on the June primary ballot after the California Secretary of State’s office removed him over a filing that arrived one day late — despite being postmarked a full three days before the deadline.
Jackson, a Santa Clarita-based transportation and logistics CEO whom LACP profiled in December, mailed his required federal income tax return disclosures to the Secretary of State’s Elections Division on March 3 — three days before the statutory deadline of March 6.
U.S. Postal Service Priority Mail tracking records confirm the package was delivered to the Secretary of State’s Sacramento office on March 7, a Saturday. The office did not process the delivery until the following business day, March 9, at which point the filing was rejected and Jackson was removed from the ballot.
“I was just floored,” Jackson told LACP. “She [Secretary of State official] said, it looks like you sent your package on time, but we got it a day late, so we’re going to have to take you off the ballot.”
Jackson has since retained an attorney and filed a Petition for Writ of Mandate in Sacramento Superior Court, arguing that the Secretary of State’s decision was an abuse of discretion and that excluding him from the ballot over a postal delay elevates a technical delivery issue over the fundamental democratic interests of voter participation and candidate access.
The writ must be acted upon by March 26.
The petition argues that California Elections Code sections 8900 through 8903 — which govern the tax return disclosure requirement — do not define “file” or specify that physical receipt is required regardless of delivery circumstances.
The Secretary of State’s own disclosure form states that “shipping or postmark dates will not be considered timely,” but the petition contends that administrative forms cannot impose substantive eligibility requirements beyond those enacted by the Legislature.
The petition also invokes the doctrine of substantial compliance, a well-established principle in California election law under which courts examine whether a candidate made a good-faith effort to meet statutory requirements and whether the statute’s purpose was served.
Because the Secretary of State now possesses Jackson’s tax returns and can make them available to the public, the petition argues the transparency objective of the disclosure requirement has been fully satisfied.
Jackson noted that California law also supports his position. “If you ship it out and have proof that you sent it in a timely fashion, that should suffice,” he said, citing what he described as a California code provision recognizing that proof of mailing raises a presumption of timely delivery.
Jackson’s removal from the ballot comes amid broader tensions over access and inclusion in the 2026 race. Earlier this month, former U.S. Health Secretary Xavier Becerra and other Democratic candidates of color publicly condemned USC and ABC7 Los Angeles for hosting a March 24 gubernatorial debate that excluded every candidate of color while including a recently entered, heavily funded white rival.
The controversy has prompted renewed scrutiny of the structural barriers facing non-establishment candidates in California’s wide-open governor’s race.
Jackson, who is Black, filed as a no-party-preference candidate and had paid the $5,000 filing fee required to appear on the ballot. He is also exploring whether legal action against the Secretary of State is warranted for the costs and hardship caused by the exclusion.
The California Secretary of State’s press office declined to comment.
Los Angeles County Politics is a nonpartisan digital news organization covering the people, politics and policies that govern LA County’s 88 cities and unincorporated communities.
