The California Democrat Supermajority has recently been showcasing questionable judgment. Back in April, RedState highlighted how Nick Schultz (D-Burbank), who chairs the Public Safety Committee, decided to delay AB 379. This particular bill aimed to categorize the act of buying sex from minors under 18 as a felony. The bill’s creator, Assemblywoman Maggy Krell (D-Sacramento), has a robust background in prosecuting sex crimes and tackling human trafficking. Yet, as Jennifer Van Laar, our Managing Editor, noted on Monday, Schultz and his peers seemed to believe they possessed more insight than Krell, despite her earning bipartisan support and backing from various groups advocating for sex crime victims.
Fast forward to the present year, intense discussions have taken place regarding a bill by Asm. Maggy Krell (D-Sacramento), which proposes making it a felony to solicit or purchase sex from 16 and 17-year-olds. Despite attempts by Newsom, Assembly Democrats removed Krell’s name and the critical provisions from the bill, introduced vague statements about protecting victims of sex trafficking, and launched a public relations campaign accusing Republicans of opposing measures to protect 16 and 17-year-olds.
The Assembly Republicans have been ready to respond robustly, and this time, the Democrat’s strategies not only fizzled out but caused significant backlash. Ashley Zavala, a Sacramento Capitol Correspondent, reported exclusively on a counter advertising initiative by the California GOP.
WATCH:
The video ads, which KCRA 3 is the first to report, come amid . The proposal is part of a broader push to ramp up the consequences for the buyers of the child sex trafficking trade.
The videos feature three teenage girls. One begins by specifically calling out an assembly member and notes Democrats in the Assembly “blocked a law that would’ve protected us.”
The ads are targeted against eight Democrat Assembly members, some of whom are in swing or competitive districts: Rhodesia Ransom (Stockton), Esmeralda Soria (Merced), Pilar Schiavo (Santa Clarita), Jacqui Irwin (Thousand Oaks), Mark González (Los Angeles), Corey Jackson (Moreno Valley), Sharon Quirk-Silva (La Palma), and Darshana Patel (San Diego). In this Golden Age of Trump, it’s a new California GOP: No doubt, CA GOP chair Corrin Rankin, and Los Angeles GOP chair Roxanne Hoge have candidates waiting in the wings to challenge them.
Time to pop the popcorn.
For the Democrats, this doubling down on the victimization of minors while protecting the predators has only served to make them appear even more craven and crazy than they already are. They have managed to single-handedly engineer the worst PR campaign imaginable.
As Van Laar pointed out, Newsom’s powers of persuasion are non-existent; he has fully lost control over his state party. However, the threat of this targeted ad campaign, along with being called out by California citizens, has brought about a change of heart… if they even had them in the first place.
Zavala reported on Tuesday afternoon that the Democrat leadership decided to add the age ceiling back into AB 379.
Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas and Assembly Public Safety Chairman Nick Schultz announced the update in written statements.
Leaders said the proposed automatic felony will be added back into AB 379, backpedaling on moves the two made last week that first removed the felony that was in the bill filed by Democratic Sacramento Assemblymember Maggy Krell.
The change will be made with one condition: the felony will not apply when the adult offender is within three years of the age of the minor. In those cases, the crime would remain a misdemeanor.
Rivas and Schultz also restored Krell’s name to the bill she authored. So, for all intents and purposes, it’s a win-win.
Whoever was in charge of this strategy by the CA GOP needs to keep it up. Not only did they manage to force the Democrats to cede legislative ground, but they have also gained the moral high ground.
