Emails between Gov. Gavin Newsom’s chief of staff and the leader of the campaign hoping to reform a controversial public safety law show the governor’s office would be open to presenting the issue to voters in 2026, raising new questions behind the Democratic-led effort to negotiate it off the ballot this year. KCRA 3 independently obtained and verified the authenticity of a set of leaked emails between Newsom’s top staffer, Dana Williamson, and Greg Totten, the co-chair of the campaign leading the effort to change Proposition 47. Prop 47 loosened the state’s consequences around drug and theft crimes a decade ago. Law enforcement, business groups and elected officials on both sides of the aisle have blamed it for a rise in crime. Read the emails here.The initiative specifically asks voters to ramp up the consequences and require prison time for fentanyl dealers and repeat thieves. For the last several months, Newsom and Democratic leaders of the state Legislature have said there is no need for voters to change Proposition 47, claiming they have the ability to crack down on crime through legislation and a fear of swelling the state’s prison population should the initiative pass. But in an email sent to Totten on June 15, Williamson wrote, “As far as an initiative, we are open to something in 2026 as well as providing all of the necessary bells and whistles to make sure the deal is rock solid.” Totten replied in part, “our focus is on amending Proposition 47 on the 2024 ballot. This necessary policy change is simply too urgent to wait for another two years. If the administration is prepared to consider an amendment of Proposition 47 on the 2024 ballot, then we are happy to meet. If not, we understand and accept your decision, and don’t believe further meetings would be productive.” Experts noted while Newsom and Democratic leaders may have ideological differences compared to the campaign attempting to change Proposition 47, the governor may not want the issue to be on the ballot for broader political reasons. “We can absolutely imagine that there are political reasons why you wouldn’t want this on the ballot now,” said Jessica Levinson, a professor at Loyola Law School. “There would be a perception that it could hurt Democrats in down-ballot races, you could have a higher turnout of conservative and moderate voters who are really worried about rising crime rates and who want to weigh in on this,” she said. Sources within the coalition backing the initiative have been privately questioning if a set of close congressional races may be behind the effort to kill the crime initiative from the 2024 ballot. Republicans currently have a razor-thin edge over Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives, which could either expand or be eliminated depending on the outcome of the November election.The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has identified eight congressional seats held by Republicans it is targeting in California, including Rep. Kevin Kiley’s seat in California’s 3rd congressional district, and Rep. John Duarte in the 13th district. In Northern California, the DCCC is also working to protect Democratic Rep. Josh Harder in the 9th district. The DCCC did not respond to a request for comment. Aside from its potential impacts on the 2024 election, Levinson said the initiative could have a negative impact on Newsom’s political future. “You can also imagine that Governor Newsom, while he’s still governor, doesn’t want a vote on a big issue that would be viewed as a rebuke of his legacy. He was very strongly in favor of Prop 47,” Levinson said.”I think that 2026 makes sense if you are the governor of California that does not want to have to deal with actual problems occurring today in California,” said Mike Trujillo, a Democratic strategist who supports the ballot initiative. “Most politicians always want to sort of kick the can, and Governor Newsom is part of that very old tradition.” In an attempt to negotiate the issue off the ballot, Democratic legislative leaders are in the process of adding controversial amendments to a set of organized retail theft bills that would have them go into effect immediately but then kill them if voters decide to approve the changes to Prop 47. Democrats have been divided over the tactic, with the leader of the Assembly’s Public Safety Committee, Kevin McCarty, among those opting out of supporting the legislative package. “I think smart Democrats are looking to meet that challenge today,” Trujillo said. “Pushing it for another two years just means another two years of victims of crime, whether they’re Brown, Black, Asian, White.” Neither Democratic Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas nor Senate Pro Tem Mike McGuire have responded to a request for comment on the correspondence between Williamson and Totten. In a statement, a spokesman for Newsom’s office said, “We regularly engage with a diverse range of stakeholders from across the political spectrum. The California District Attorneys Association requested a meeting with our office but canceled. It appears their decision was based on a position that does not reflect the consensus of their broader coalition.” “We’ve had one objective in pursuing this ballot measure: to address the unintended consequences of parts of Proposition 47, which have resulted in a surge of smash-and-grab retail theft, fentanyl trafficking, and overdose deaths,” Totten told KCRA 3 in a statement. “Additionally, we aim to provide stronger incentives for getting hard drug users into treatment. Unfortunately, state leaders are prioritizing politics over public safety.”See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app.
Emails between Gov. Gavin Newsom’s chief of staff and the leader of the campaign hoping to reform a controversial public safety law show the governor’s office would be open to presenting the issue to voters in 2026, raising new questions behind the Democratic-led effort to negotiate it off the ballot this year.
KCRA 3 independently obtained and verified the authenticity of a set of leaked emails between Newsom’s top staffer, Dana Williamson, and Greg Totten, the co-chair of the campaign leading the effort to change Proposition 47. Prop 47 loosened the state’s consequences around drug and theft crimes a decade ago. Law enforcement, business groups and elected officials on both sides of the aisle have blamed it for a rise in crime.
The initiative specifically asks voters to ramp up the consequences and require prison time for fentanyl dealers and repeat thieves.
For the last several months, Newsom and Democratic leaders of the state Legislature have said there is no need for voters to change Proposition 47, claiming they have the ability to crack down on crime through legislation and a fear of swelling the state’s prison population should the initiative pass.
But in an email sent to Totten on June 15, Williamson wrote, “As far as an initiative, we are open to something in 2026 as well as providing all of the necessary bells and whistles to make sure the deal is rock solid.”
Totten replied in part, “our focus is on amending Proposition 47 on the 2024 ballot. This necessary policy change is simply too urgent to wait for another two years. If the administration is prepared to consider an amendment of Proposition 47 on the 2024 ballot, then we are happy to meet. If not, we understand and accept your decision, and don’t believe further meetings would be productive.”
Experts noted while Newsom and Democratic leaders may have ideological differences compared to the campaign attempting to change Proposition 47, the governor may not want the issue to be on the ballot for broader political reasons.
“We can absolutely imagine that there are political reasons why you wouldn’t want this on the ballot now,” said Jessica Levinson, a professor at Loyola Law School. “There would be a perception that it could hurt Democrats in down-ballot races, you could have a higher turnout of conservative and moderate voters who are really worried about rising crime rates and who want to weigh in on this,” she said.
Sources within the coalition backing the initiative have been privately questioning if a set of close congressional races may be behind the effort to kill the crime initiative from the 2024 ballot. Republicans currently have a razor-thin edge over Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives, which could either expand or be eliminated depending on the outcome of the November election.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has identified eight congressional seats held by Republicans it is targeting in California, including Rep. Kevin Kiley’s seat in California’s 3rd congressional district, and Rep. John Duarte in the 13th district. In Northern California, the DCCC is also working to protect Democratic Rep. Josh Harder in the 9th district.
The DCCC did not respond to a request for comment.
Aside from its potential impacts on the 2024 election, Levinson said the initiative could have a negative impact on Newsom’s political future.
“You can also imagine that Governor Newsom, while he’s still governor, doesn’t want a vote on a big issue that would be viewed as a rebuke of his legacy. He was very strongly in favor of Prop 47,” Levinson said.
“I think that 2026 makes sense if you are the governor of California that does not want to have to deal with actual problems occurring today in California,” said Mike Trujillo, a Democratic strategist who supports the ballot initiative. “Most politicians always want to sort of kick the can, and Governor Newsom is part of that very old tradition.”
In an attempt to negotiate the issue off the ballot, Democratic legislative leaders are in the process of adding controversial amendments to a set of organized retail theft bills that would have them go into effect immediately but then kill them if voters decide to approve the changes to Prop 47.
Democrats have been divided over the tactic, with the leader of the Assembly’s Public Safety Committee, Kevin McCarty, among those opting out of supporting the legislative package.
“I think smart Democrats are looking to meet that challenge today,” Trujillo said. “Pushing it for another two years just means another two years of victims of crime, whether they’re Brown, Black, Asian, White.”
Neither Democratic Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas nor Senate Pro Tem Mike McGuire have responded to a request for comment on the correspondence between Williamson and Totten.
In a statement, a spokesman for Newsom’s office said, “We regularly engage with a diverse range of stakeholders from across the political spectrum. The California District Attorneys Association requested a meeting with our office but canceled. It appears their decision was based on a position that does not reflect the consensus of their broader coalition.”
“We’ve had one objective in pursuing this ballot measure: to address the unintended consequences of parts of Proposition 47, which have resulted in a surge of smash-and-grab retail theft, fentanyl trafficking, and overdose deaths,” Totten told KCRA 3 in a statement. “Additionally, we aim to provide stronger incentives for getting hard drug users into treatment. Unfortunately, state leaders are prioritizing politics over public safety.”
See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app.
