Voters in California elected a "mystery man" to the school board. He never campaigned or gave any speeches, but he still managed to get 55% of the vote. Now they can't even find him to tell him he won.

Public records point to the fact that Steve Rocco really does exist.

He's a registered voter. He owns a home in Santa Ana. And he filed paperwork in July to run for the school board.

"He is not a figment of your imagination," said Christina Avila, a campaign disclosure filing officer at the Orange County registrar of voters and apparently one of the few people who can confirm his existence, because he handed his papers over to her. "He's a real man."

After that, the details start getting sketchy.

He is registered to vote, though he declined to state a party. Neighbors who have lived next door to him for years say they've seen the 53-year-old man only occasionally, when he takes out the trash from the home he shares with his parents. On the ballot, he listed his occupation as teacher and writer, though proof of either is elusive.

Neither the district nor the registrar has a phone number on file for him, and nobody answered the door at his home.

Somehow, though, without mounting a real campaign, filing a candidate's statement or showing up at a community forum, he managed to upset his formidable opponent, Phil Martinez.

Officials are trying to figure out what to do if he doesn't show up for the swearing in.