Back in 2018, when Gavin Newsom was elected Governor of California to replace term-limited Jerry Brown, I remember thinking, “Soon, we’re going to miss Gov. Moonbeam because at least he’s been vetoing the ultra crazy things his colleagues in the legislature pass.” Indeed, there have been pieces of legislation Newsom’s let sail right through that Brown likely would have vetoed. For the most part, though, whether it’s been Newsom or Brown, California Dems would back away from the proverbial ledge if the governor signaled that a particular bill went too far or that they needed to change their stance on an issue.
Those days are very publicly over.
It started last year when Newsom called for a special session so legislators could address high gas prices, by which he meant he wanted them to pass a refinery storage bill that would lead to even higher gas prices. The Senate President basically flipped Gavin off, refusing to gavel the Senate into special session, but eventually capitulated more than a month later. At the time, I wrote:
The saga will undoubtedly play out over the coming hours and days, but what’s already quite obvious is that California Democrats aren’t afraid of Newsom anymore, they’re not loyal to him, and they’re not going to carry his water. That does not bode well for his future career prospects.
Kamala might have really kneecapped this guy.
Fast forward to this year, and the fiery debate over the last few weeks over a bill put forward by Asm. Maggy Krell (D-Sacramento) to make it a felony to solicit or purchase 16 and 17-year-olds for sex. Despite Newsom’s entreaties, Assembly Democrats stripped Krell’s name from the bill, struck the provision from the bill, inserted some vague language about wanting to protect victims of sex trafficking, then embarked on a PR crusade to accuse leading Republicans of voting against protecting 16 and 17-year-olds.
They’re on the 20 side of an 80/20 issue, and doubling down despite Newsom publicly calling them out – and I hope they keep doing it.
READ MORE: Dem Sponsor of Sex Trafficking Bill Sides With Republicans to Force Vote on Felony-Level Penalties
Some of you reading might be thinking, “Didn’t this also happen last year?” You would be correct. In 2024 legislators made the solicitation of minors up through age 15 an automatic felony but left 16 and 17-year-olds out of that equation – and only made that concession (to make it a felony for kids 15 and under) after Newsom got involved. So this year Krell, who was a prosecutor specializing in sex trafficking cases prior to entering the Assembly, introduced her bill to protect 16 and 17-year-olds and to criminalize loitering for prostitution.
Enter freshman Asm. Nick Schultz (D-Burbank), the Public Safety Committee chair who’s also buddies with Mayor Konstantine “Spanky” Anthony. Remember this guy?
Schultz is also a former prosecutor, though it’s not clear that he prosecuted anything related to child sex trafficking. He was assigned to a unit that reviewed officer-involved shootings to see if the officer should be charged. Krell, though, “has made the issue her life’s work and is an expert on human trafficking,” and “is known for taking down the trafficking site Backpage.com.” Yet Schultz believes he has as much credibility on the issue as Krell.
When the bill was set to come to his committee, Schultz said more time was needed to craft the bill so it wouldn’t unintentionally ensnare victims who are soliciting on behalf of their traffickers. They’ve had a year since the last time this came up, but apparently that wasn’t enough time – and really, how difficult is it to exclude victims of trafficking from the automatic felony provision?
Republicans made the bill’s hearing into a huge issue, and even Newsom waded in, saying, “The law should treat all sex predators who solicit minors the same — as a felony, regardless of the intended victim’s age. Full stop.”
That didn’t faze Schultz or the other sex predator apologists in Sacramento; they moved forward with attacks on Krell and even Newsom and Lt. Governor Eleni Kounalakis, then made the unprecedented move of stripping Krell’s name from the bill and deleting the “offending” provision.
Assembly Public Safety Chairman Nick Schultz would be the lead author.
As he introduced this on the floor he accused “the highest officers of this state” aka Governor, Lt Governor and the media of spreading misinformation.
— Ashley Zavala (@ZavalaA) May 1, 2025
Then, over the weekend, ads started showing up on social media claiming that Republican legislators voted against protecting 16 and 17-year-olds, all based on a milquetoast “legislative intent” sentence Schultz stuck in the revised bill.
This is how the clowns at @CA_Dem headquarters try to dig themselves out of a ridiculous hole. Here is the language that was passed in the Assembly – very clearly it strikes protections for 16/17 year olds. https://t.co/YrLroXoDya pic.twitter.com/kMXVZdTe6m
— Joe Patterson (@Patterdude) May 5, 2025
In response, GOP freshman Asm. Carl DeMaio’s PAC started its own ad campaign against Assembly Democrats in vulnerable seats. It’s just as flashy, but has the benefit of being true.
MAKE THEM PAY! Last week CA Democrats voted to gut the AB 379 bill to make it a felony to buy a 16 or 17 year-old minor for s*x.
Today we launch our ad campaign to hold them accountable with the voters. SPREAD THE WORD: https://t.co/v4vx0OtnvB pic.twitter.com/CEDCGhH3CR
— Carl DeMaio (@carldemaio) May 5, 2025
Newsom’s got a long two years ahead of him at this rate.
