SACRAMENTO, California — California Governor Gavin Newsom and state leaders have changed course a plan to put an initiative targeting crime on the November ballot the day after it is announced.
In a statement released Tuesday night, Newsom said there is not enough time for state leaders to hammer out the final language before Wednesday’s deadline. State leaders rolled out the proposed measure Sunday night after spending weeks trying in vain to negotiate remove a separate, stricter proposal on the same subject from the vote.
The unusual and abrupt move underscores the difficult balancing act Democrats in the state are facing between quelling voters’ frustration over crime and avoiding a return to a policy of mass incarceration — while the governor has his eyes set on political ambitions elsewhere.
Newsom, who reportedly has his own presidential goals, flew to Washington DC on Wednesday morning to support President Joe Biden and will be raising money for the president in the coming days after a shaky debate performance.
“It really gives you insight into Gavin Newsom and how he thinks and where he stands,” said David McCuan, a political science professor at Sonoma State University. “It’s that he cares more about himself than he cares about anyone else.”
The now abandoned measure would have competed with the Voting initiative for stricter approach to crime backed by a broad coalition of district attorneys, business groups and local officials. Both proposals would increase penalties for some drug charges and make shoplifting a felony for repeat offenders, but the Democratic lawmakers’ plan was narrower in scope and less punitive. They argued that the district attorneys’ proposal would return California to the era of the war on drugs and mass incarceration.
Lawmakers will now return to their original plan to move forward a legislative package of bills to tackle car thieves and professional reseller programswhich they plan to hand over to Newsom by the end of the legislative session in August.
Republicans and the coalition led by district attorneys who called the Democrats’ referendum “a sham” celebrated its defeat on Wednesday.
“For the first time, Californians are benefiting from having a governor who cares more about national politics than his job in Sacramento,” Senate Republican Leader Brian Jones said in a statement.
In recent years, it has become increasingly difficult for Democrats in California to tackle crime. Many of them have spent the past decade pushing for progressive policies to depopulate prisons and invest in rehabilitation programs.
But the issue has reached a boiling point this year amid mounting criticism from Republicans and law enforcement. Voters across the state are also exasperated by what they see as a lawless California where retail crime and drug abuse are rampant as the state grapples with a homeless crisis.
As the issue might even influence the composition and control of Congresssome Democrats broke with party leadership and said they supported tough on crime.
It’s difficult to quantify California’s retail crime problem due to a lack of local data, but many point to mass store closures and everyday items like toothpaste being locked behind plexiglass as evidence of a crisis. Videos of large crowds of people storming into the shops without any fuss and stealing in plain sight has gone viral.
According to the state’s attorney general and experts, crime rates in California are still low compared to the high rates of decades ago.
The plan to put an alternative crime-focused measure on the ballot was one of several attempts by state leaders to walk the crime tightrope — tactics that even some top Democrats were unhappy with. State Senate President Mike McGuire told reporters Monday that it was “unfortunate” and “frustrating” that lawmakers had to put a crime-focused measure on the ballot. Other Democrats also withdrew their support as leadership planned to invalidate their own legislative package if voters approved the anti-crime initiative led by business groups.
Lawmakers’ balancing act on crime “requires a lot of buy-in, and it often requires setting aside your own political ambitions and sometimes making things uncomfortable,” said McCuan, a political science professor. “And not all politicians are willing to do that.”
Criminal justice reform groups are rallying support for the legislative package, saying it is far more comprehensive and effective than bills to tackle shoplifting and drug abuse.
In addition to the fight over crime measures, San Francisco’s mayor said London race and the Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon face stiff opposition to their re-election from opponents who have criticized their approach to crime and punishment.
“California must position itself now to double down on real solutions,” said Tinisch Hollins, executive director of Californians for Safety and Justice, which in 2014 authored a proposal to reduce some nonviolent charges from crimes to misdemeanors“What we need now is leadership.”