Proposition 36 would largely reverse Proposition 47, a ballot measure that lessened penalties for drug use and an array of theft-related crimes.
Vice President Kamala Harris will not reveal her position on a California ballot measure that would reverse soft-on-crime policies the state enacted a decade ago.
Harris, a former senator from California who began her career as a prosecutor, declined to answer when asked on Sunday whether she voted for Proposition 36, a ballot measure to strengthen punishments for certain drug and theft offenses.
“I’m not going to talk about the vote on that because honestly it’s the Sunday before the election and I don’t intend to create an endorsement one way or another around it,” Harris said.
Asked how’d she vote on the measure last month, Harris told reporters “I’ll let you know.”
Harris and her campaign have routinely declined to comment on policy specifics since she became the Democratic presidential nominee over the summer. The Harris campaign has not articulated her position on over a dozen policies she previously advocated, Axios reported Sunday.
On issues such as crime, immigration, and the environment, Harris and her spokespeople have reversed her past support for progressive positions that are unappealing to moderate voters and vital swing-state constituencies. Former president Donald Trump’s campaign has hammered Harris for the radical positions she took in contrast to Trump’s tough stances on crime and border enforcement.
Before serving in the senate, Harris was California’s attorney general and San Francisco district attorney. During the presidential campaign, Harris has emphasized her prosecutorial background to counter Republican attacks on her past support for defunding the police and dramatically curtailing immigration enforcement.
As San Francisco district attorney, Harris was reluctant to prosecute homicide suspects after exaggerating her prosecutorial experience during the campaign, National Review reported last month. Harris often boasts about prosecuting transnational gangs during her time as California attorney general, claims that former federal agents who worked under her have disputed.
Proposition 36 would largely reverse Proposition 47, a ballot measure Californians voted for a decade ago to lessen penalties for personal drug use and an array of theft-related crimes. Harris similarly declined to take a strong position on Proposition 47 when it was the subject of debate during her time as attorney general.
Recent polls have shown overwhelming majorities favor Proposition 36 despite opposition from progressive activists. California governor Gavin Newsom (D) opposes the measure but has not campaigned hard against it and expects voters to pass it.
California’s decade-long criminal-justice reform experiment caused crimes and reoffending to increase while exacerbating drug addiction, according to a recent study from the Manhattan Institute, a conservative think tank.
Deep-blue California cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco have gone further with relaxed law enforcement standards by electing soft-on-crime progressive district attorneys whose prosecutorial approaches have worsened violent crime and homelessness. San Francisco recalled progressive district attorney Chesa Boudin in 2022 and Los Angeles is on the verge of electing a moderate independent over progressive incumbent George Gascon. In Oakland, Mayor Sheng Thao will likely be recalled by voters who are dissatisfied with her handling of crime in the city.