BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) -- Local politics is certainly feeling the one-week-from-election-day tension. Yet another local race has gotten muddier, after an anonymous voicemail against one city council candidate surfaced Tuesday afternoon. The voicemail -- which sounds something like an automated message -- begins, "This is a critical voter alert for residents of the Bakersfield City Council Ward 5. Candidate Mike Miguel Madrigal is a convicted domestic abuser. Kern County prosecutors charged Madrigal with assault with a deadly weapon and false imprisonment after he stuck a knife to the throat of a local woman. When you cast your vote on Nov. 5, send a strong message and tell Mike Madrigal no means no." Kern County In Depth: Speaking with Bakersfield City Council Ward 5 candidates This is the content of an anonymous voicemail that emerged Tuesday afternoon, shaking up the race for the three-candidate Bakersfield City Council Ward 5. The candidate in question -- Mike Madrigal -- is up against fellow Republicans Larry Koman and Kevin Oliver. Both Koman and Oliver strongly denied they have anything to do with the automated message. Contrary to most political ads, this voicemail has no disclaimer whatsoever who or what group is behind it. That brings up the question -- is this legal? "By the time that is sorted out, in a legal standpoint, which is incredibly hard to do with a phone call … meanwhile, the damage has been done," said Dr. Michael Ault, CSUB political science professor. Dr. Ault added one must keep in mind the timing of the allegations. "I think one of the reasons sort of strategically from a campaign standpoint, you want to save your best for last, and this is a pretty big bombshell," the professor said, 17's Jenny Huh: "Is it dirty politics?" Dr. Michael Ault: "It's dirty politics." Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Daily News SIGN UP NOW The facts of the case -- according to court records -- are that Madrigal was charged with assault with a deadly weapon and false imprisonment. He took a plea deal and was sentenced to 12 days in jail and three years misdemeanor probation after pleading no contest to the misdemeanor false imprisonment charge. The other count was dismissed. "So to say that this is false, is completely false, is disingenuous," said Dr. Ault. In a statement to 17 News Tuesday morning -- before news of the voicemail -- Madrigal stated in part, "In June 2005, 19 years ago, I went to a party with a former girlfriend. I was only 21 ... We were both intoxicated and I had her keys in my pocket. She wanted me to give her the keys to her car and I refused because I did not want her to drive drunk ... I had a pocketknife and I pulled it out to scare her. This was a foolish mistake ... She tried to physically take her keys from me and during a brief scuffle she accidentally sustained a minor cut ... the District Attorney dismissed the assault charge, and I admitted instead to a misdemeanor charge of false imprisonment for restricting her movement by refusing to give her keys back to her. I was put on misdemeanor probation and performed a few days of work release. I regret this mistake ... I'm a far more responsible person now than I was as a 21-year-old." The victim and her family declined to comment at this time. Madrigal's campaign manager and leader of the Kern GOP Cathy Abernathy told 17 News Madrigal is staying in the race, despite calls for him to suspend his campaign.