By Kevin Kiley – November 2, 2024
As Joe Biden was calling half the country “garbage,” Gavin Newsom called three quarters of our state “lazy.” Specifically, Newsom just called Prop. 36 a “very lazy response” to the crime problem – even though 73 percent of Californians support it.
One might argue Newsom’s response – doing nothing – is lazier. For those of us who worked tirelessly to get Prop. 36 on the ballot, his comments are insulting and delusional. But more than that, they are revealing: Newsom knows he has been defeated in a lasting way.
He knows the passage of Prop. 36 will confirm his status as an irrelevant lame-duck. Indeed, our decisive triumph over Newsom and the Supermajority will be proof that we can turn our state around. It will inspire patriotic Californians to cancel their U-Hauls, to stay and fight.
It will also have national implications. While Newsom and Kamala call California a “model for the nation,” Californians themselves are rejecting that very model. A new poll shows voters disapprove of Newsom and the Legislature and say the state is going in the “wrong direction.”
What’s more, new voter registration numbers just came in, and the streak continues. For the fifth straight time, Republicans gained ground while Democrats lost ground. It’s the latest sign that the coalition for common sense is ascendent.
Yet still, Newsom is intent on doing maximal damage in the meantime. He just announced more homelessness spending, even after getting caught spending $24 billion and losing track of the money. He also just vetoed a bipartisan bill to hold him accountable for further spending.
Newsom has also given his blessing to a 65-cent gas price increase planned by CARB for three days after the election. And he found time to send a fundraising email for my opponent, his former staffer Jessica Morse. Both are a good reminder: please make sure to vote!
Help me get out the vote and win
Kevin Kiley is a California Congressman
