Dave Min, a California Democratic state senator vying to succeed Rep. Katie Porter (D.) this fall, has joined his party's effort to kill a popular statewide voter initiative that would crack down on retail theft and open-air drug markets—an effort that has local law enforcement officials crying foul.
Min authored one of 14 criminal justice bills introduced as an election-year public safety package at the behest of Democratic governor Gavin Newsom. The bills' goal is to appease Californians' growing anger at state Democrats' lenient approach to crime and to stymie a voter referendum to restore tougher punishments for theft and drug deals. On Tuesday, the referendum qualified for November's ballot after drawing nearly a million signatures.
Newsom, state Democratic leaders, and wealthy progressive political donors who have bankrolled the state's soft-on-crime agenda all oppose this referendum and want the Legislature's weaker package enshrined as an alternative. Only voters can restore the underlying punishments for retail theft and drug dealing, since they were wiped away by a 2014 ballot initiative that was marketed as a public safety solution and funded by left-wing billionaires and millionaires.
So, in a last-ditch effort to thwart the referendum, California Democrats, including Min, are threatening to invalidate their own public safety package if it passes. This move could undermine the initiative by telling crime-weary Californians that the state's first anti-crime legislative push in a decade would be null and void if they approve the referendum.
On Monday, Min proposed a provision to repeal his piece of the public safety legislative package should voters pass the initiative. That same day, he joined Democratic leadership in a press conference in which they unveiled their strategy to add the kill switch to their legislation. Lawmakers are expected to vote on the poison-pill language next week.
The move is a risky one for Min, who is running neck-and-neck with his GOP opponent in the race to represent purple Orange County in Congress. The Democrats' push has already infuriated law enforcement in Min's district, including Orange County sheriff Don Barnes, who supports the referendum and has decried the Democrats' scheme as "very disturbing."
Newsom "should put the question to the voters," Barnes said: "Is it going to be rule of law, or are they going to continue to protect criminals and criminal activity, which has been the outcome of [the 2014 ballot initiative]?"
Barnes added that small businesses are no longer bothering to report crimes.
And Orange County district attorney Todd Spitzer (R.) said in a statement that "we can't allow the Legislature to … use the same old deceptive tactics to trick voters—and we can't continue to be wrong about public safety."
The referendum would authorize felony charges for thieves once they steal for a third time or once their repeat thefts add up to more than $950. It would also allow judges to send big-time drug traffickers to state prison and add fentanyl to California's list of hard drugs, letting dealers receive steeper punishments, among other things.
The legislative package is made up of 14 bills that don't touch the underlying issue of harsher penalties for theft and drug dealing. Min's would enhance punishments for thieves who set fire to the businesses from which they're stealing. Others would create new charges for organized crime rings that would carry maximum three-year jail sentences, launch theft-reporting systems for business owners, add jail time for thieves of goods worth more than $50,000, add certification requirements for online traders to try to stop criminals from reselling stolen goods, and more, including boosting drug education and access to fentanyl testing strips.
A representative for Min's Senate office did not respond to a request for comment. Orrin Evans, a consultant for Min's congressional campaign, flagged campaign endorsements from local police unions and said Min will "continue to work with them to keep our communities safe."
Min this week dodged a question on whether he supports the referendum, telling Los Angeles's Fox 11 this week that he will "have to take a closer look at the [referendum] language, honestly," and that he "will try to find some time to read that language," even as he touted the Democrats' separate legislative package.
"We want to be careful; obviously, we want to crack down on theft," he said. "We also don't want the pendulum to swing all the way too far, we've made that mistake before."
As state senator, Min has voted for soft-on-crime measures, such as ending cash bail and sealing criminal records for a swath of felons, including domestic abusers. He himself is primarily known for his DUI arrest last year, during which he was caught on camera lying to cops about how much he drank when he was driving a taxpayer-funded car. His blood alcohol content was nearly twice the legal limit, and social media posts showed that he had been dining with lobbyists before the arrest.
One of Min's Democratic colleagues in the State Senate removed her name from the two bills in the legislative package that she had coauthored because of the added poison-pill language, saying she supports the referendum and opposes "the political maneuvering" to undermine it.
Businesses across California have shuttered in recent years due to homelessness, theft, and vandalism—from the San Francisco toy shop that inspired Disney's Toy Story to Oakland's In-N-Out Burger and some of Beverly Hills's exclusive boutiques.