Sex, DUIs and dirty tricks: Inside California’s nastiest election showdown

Politics

exclusive details

See more of our coverage in your search results.

XXX services and DUIs are the calling cards of a nasty state Assembly race in what may be the Florida of California: Riverside County.

California Republican legislator Leticia Castillo has made a name for herself crusading to protect children and defend traditional family values — but decades-old XXX websites she operated, featuring graphic sexual language and photos of herself, reveal a very different chapter in her past.

Meanwhile, her Democratic challenger Clarissa Cervantes is defending her own past after two DUI arrests and allegations of drug use by her daughter’s father — claims her campaign now says he fabricated.

Castillo — a 55-year-old lawmaker, mother and grandmother who has championed legislation restricting transgender rights and allowing parents to pull their kids out of school lessons about gender identity — went by the name “Silky Santana” and “Silky Smooth” for years in the 2000s while advertising sexual entertainment services.

The stunning discovery comes just weeks before voters decide Castillo’s fate in a nail-biter reelection contest in Riverside County, after defeating Cervantes by 596 votes in a 2024 race.

Castillo, a Republican from Corona, has portrayed herself as a defender of California families and their children, campaigning under the banner “Faith, Family, Freedom” and promising to reject agendas that go against family values.

The California Family Council graded Castillo at 85% on its “Biblical Values Score.”

Castillo acknowledged pursuing an adult entertainment business in a statement to the California Post, saying she was an adult making her own decisions — but describing the episode as a dark chapter she left behind through her Christian faith.

“I’m never going to claim to be a victim of anything,” Castillo said. “I was an adult and, unfortunately, thought I wanted to start an adult entertainment business with a friend’s encouragement.”

She said she was grieving her father’s death from pancreatic cancer and “angry at God” at the time. She said she turned to Jesus and realized “I’m better than that.”

“Who I was then is not who I am today, and it hasn’t been for a very long time,” Castillo said.

---

Download The California Post App, follow us on social, and subscribe to our newsletters

The assemblywoman, who touted her legislative record on health care costs, housing, parental rights and criminal penalties, did not answer questions about how long she ran the websites.

“I do not advertise this part of my life. I also do not run from it,” Castillo said.

“My constituents are sick of politicians, like my opponent, who will say and do anything to get elected, who lie, cheat, raise our taxes, and protect criminals instead of working to make our district safer and more affordable.”

She added, “The people I represent deserve to hear it from me rather than from someone else. If any one of them wants to ask me about it, I will answer.”

The XXX websites were started and operated over a period of years that overlaps with a time period that Castillo’s LinkedIn notes she was working for Verizon. Castillo worked in a variety of fields before becoming a licensed therapist in California in 2016, according to her LinkedIn.

Voters in Riverside County will have to weigh Castillo’s past with a Democratic candidate who has her own baggage.

Cervantes, a Riverside City Council member, got her first DUI conviction dismissed in May 2023 — only to get arrested for drunken driving again about six weeks later.

The first conviction followed a 2014 arrest in Moreno Valley, when her blood alcohol level was at least 0.15% – almost twice the legal limit. She pleaded guilty to the second DUI in August 2023 and was sentenced to three years probation and a sheriff’s work release program.

Natalie Betanco, a spokesperson for Cervantes’ campaign, said she “has taken full accountability, completed recovery programs, and she’s been transparent about her years of sobriety.”

Cervantes’ campaign also denied allegations of past drug use made by her daughter’s father, Moses Bolanos, in a 2013 court dispute.

“Being young and immature back then, I made up those allegations which I regret deeply,” Bolanos said in a statement provided by Cervantes’ campaign.

Cervantes’ campaign did not directly address questions about Castillo’s adult entertainment business.

The revelations about Castillo’s secret past come just two months after a separate controversy engulfed the California GOP.

In August, Republican lawmakers ousted Assembly Minority Leader Heath Flora just a day after The Post revealed that he was facing two state ethics investigations and had spent more than $11,000 in campaign funds for “meals” and district meetings at a Sacramento dive bar.

Flora was also found to have had multiple extramarital affairs.

Flora was replaced by Assemblywoman Alexandra Macedo in August after less than a year leading the Republican caucus.

Castillo first sought an Assembly seat in 2022 but finished third in the primary, failing to advance to the general election. She returned two years later to replace Cervantes sister, then-Democratic Assemblywoman Sabrina Cervantes, who now serves in the state Senate.

The two candidates are now in the thick of a heated rematch in the fiercely divided Inland Empire.