California Dems Cave On AB 379 After Successful GOP Ad Campaign And Shaming For Age Ceiling Removal

Posted • May 6, 2025: The California Democrat Supermajority has been showing their collective hindquarters along with their depravity. As reported in April, the chairman of the Public Safety Committee, Nick Schultz (D-Burbank), chose to stall AB 379, a bill that would make it a felony for anyone purchasing sex from a minor under the age of 18. Its author, Assemblywoman Maggy Krell (D-Sacramento), is an experienced prosecutor in the area of sex crimes and human trafficking. But as our Managing Editor Jennifer Van Laar outlined on Monday, Schultz and his colleagues thought that they knew better than this expert who had garnered support for this bill among her colleagues, both Democrat and Republican, as well as organizations and advocates who worked on behalf of victims of sex crimes. 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. The Republicans in the Assembly have been eating their Wheaties lately because the Democrat tactics not only failed to work, but backfired spectacularly. Sacramento Capitol Correspondent Ashley Zavala exclusively reported a counter ad campaign by the California GOP. 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. (…)

• More at: RedState - CA Leg Dems Cave on AB 379 After Successful GOP Ad Campaign and Shaming for Age Ceiling Removal
https://redstate.com/jenniferoo/2025/05/06/ca-leg-dems-cave-on-ab-379-after-successful-gop-ad-campaign-shaming-for-removal-of-age-ceiling-n2188763