LATHROP – The woman hoping to unseat longtime Manteca Unified trustee Manuel Medeiros doesn’t appear to live in his district. 

Ashley Drain, an educator that has declared her candidacy for the District 2 seat of the Manteca Unified Board of Education, is listed on the San Joaquin Registrar of Voters list as Medeiros’ lone opponent for the Nov. 4 contest. The only problem is that the address she listed on her paperwork shows a home in Weston Ranch and not within the geographical boundaries currently served by Medeiros – which only extend as far north as Manila Road on the west side of the I-5 corridor. 

When contacted Wednesday afternoon, Drain said that she wasn’t completely sure about the actual boundaries of the district as it was her first time getting involved with anything having to deal with politics, but recognized several things that she’d like to see addressed. 

“This is still new but there were some things that I wanted to see looked at and focused on, and that’s why I’ve decided to do this,” Drain said. 

She said that she split her time between the space in Stockton and Weston Ranch. 

According to a Facebook page attributed to Ashley Lynn Drain and postings that were made as early as this week, Drain appears to live in the Gleason Park apartments managed by California’s Mercy Housing in Downtown Stockton – located at 605 E. Church Street. In a five-minute long video where she rants against the property owner for not adequately addressing bedbug issue affecting the low-income subsidized housing community, Drain mentions Mercy Housing several times and alludes to racism being at play in the situation that the residents are facing. 

She also announced her candidacy for school board in a post one day earlier, writing “Weston Ranch is my home base. Weston Ranch has always been slighted. Majority of my teens live in Weston Ranch, and I want changes.” Stockton Mayor Anthony Silva voiced his support for her candidacy after she made the public declaration.

Weston Ranch is currently represented by Sam Fant. None of Weston Ranch, where Drain says she lives, is even in Medeiros’ district,

Drain currently leases space in Downtown Stockton with a business partner and operates a website that advertises her skills as a life coach and motivational speaker. She has a handful of other business endeavors including a split-coast venture that’s behind the website tastycarty.com – which allows users to find and track their favorite gourmet food trucks across Northern California and Chicago.