A small Kansas town is grappling with a political firestorm after its newly re-elected mayor was charged with election fraud for voting as a non-citizen.
Joe Ceballos, who came to Coldwater from Mexico decades ago as a teenage ranch hand, grew up in the community and eventually became one of its leaders. A high school teacher helped him register for the draft and to vote when he turned 18. Ceballos worked for the city, served on the city council, and ultimately became mayor, according to the Washington Post.
“But the day after he was reelected mayor, Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach (R) said Ceballos had illegally voted in three elections, starting in 2022, charging him with voter fraud and perjury — felonies that could strip him of his elected office and land him in prison for years,” the Post reported. “It is illegal for noncitizens to vote in Kansas and in all but a small number of localities across the United States.”
Ceballos, who has been voting as a registered Republican since 2020, could face deportation after more than four decades in the country if convicted. He has not yet entered a plea.
The case has left Coldwater, a town of fewer than 1,000 residents, divided — but many are expressing strong support for Ceballos and questioning the motives behind the prosecution.
“I’m all for closing our borders, I’m all for legal immigration,” said Terry Abel, a longtime friend of Ceballos. “I’m a Republican at heart, I love President Trump.”
Abel’s 15-year-old son, Gabe, noticed the online backlash aimed at Ceballos, which often reduced the issue to xenophobic outrage rather than the nuances of the case.
“They’re like, ‘Deport him,’ and all that stuff – it’s just awful,” Abel said, who is friends with one of Ceballos’s grandsons. “If you really know him, and you know the situation, you would know he definitely didn’t mean to do a bunch of crimes. He’s a really good dude.”
Ceballos’s attorney, Jess Hoeme, said he believed Ceballos was unaware he was ineligible to vote and intends to fight the charges. He will step aside temporarily from mayoral duties “for the sake of the people of Coldwater.”
“He thought he was an American,” Hoeme said. “He’s always been an American. The technicality of citizenship perhaps has escaped him.”
Ceballos received a green card in 1990 but did not apply for citizenship until this February. Even residents who have supported Kobach in the past criticized the prosecution.
“He wasn’t here with a hand out,” said resident Allen Davis. “A lot of them that come today come here for the benefits they can get, for the goodies and the handouts. He wasn’t that man.”
“I think somebody is probably trying to make a name for themselves as a politician,” Davis added.
For a quiet town with a modest budget, the case has become a flashpoint, highlighting tensions over immigration, citizenship, and political ambition.
