Gavin Newsom criticized for flip-flopping on California's most pressing issues
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - While mayor of San Francisco, Democrat Gavin Newsom supported high-speed rail in California so strongly that he partnered with Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2008 to push for a $10 billion state bond measure to help build it.
Six years later, Newsom pulled his support, citing exploding cost overruns and delays. Two years after that, he was back on board.
Newsom has made several about-faces during his two decades in politics. Early in the 2018 governor's race, his shifting stances were targeted by Democratic rivals, who accused the lieutenant governor of flip-flopping or equivocating on high-speed rail and other pivotal issues facing California, including a single-payer health care system and sanctuary policies. Newsom's rival in the November election, Republican John Cox, is sure to continue that criticism as he highlights his opposition to the front-runner on several issues.
Similar to other politicians on the campaign trail, Newsom has made pronouncements that can be interpreted in different ways, allowing voters to hear what they want to hear, said political scientist Melissa Michelson of Menlo College. That strategy can create doubt in voters' minds about what a candidate will really do if elected, she said.
“As a politician, you're trying to both read and lead the public,” Michelson said. “You certainly don't want to say things that make you unpopular.”
Newsom campaign spokesman Nathan Click dismissed the criticism, saying the lieutenant governor has a long history of taking bold, risky policy positions, including authorizing same-sex marriages in 2004 while mayor of San Francisco.
“California voters have overwhelmingly supported Gavin Newsom at the ballot box because he has had the political courage to champion bold reforms and aggressively see them through,” Click said.
Michelson said it's common for political beliefs to evolve, especially for someone who has been in public office a while. For Newsom, that includes his views on aspects of San Francisco's sanctuary policy. The policy bars the city from spending funds to enforce immigration law, and prohibits local authorities from detaining people based solely on their immigration status, Michelson said.
Throughout the campaign, Newsom has boasted about his support while mayor of San Francisco as a sanctuary city, including extending health care coverage to immigrants who entered the country illegally.
“I'm proud to come from a sanctuary city,” Newsom said at a February debate. “Sanctuary cities are about keeping people safe, healthier and more educated. If you're a victim of crime, if you're a witness of crime, you're more than likely to communicate with police officers.”
But as mayor, Newsom directed the city to begin referring juveniles who were in the country illegally and who had been charged with felonies to federal immigration authorities for deportation.
The policy was implemented shortly after the 2008 slaying of Anthony Bologna and his two sons, who were killed on a San Francisco street by Edwin Ramos, a 21-year-old Salvadoran immigrant who had entered the country illegally. Ramos, who was later convicted of first-degree murder, had been released from San Francisco County Jail three months before, and was twice convicted of felonies as a juvenile.
When the Board of Supervisors voted to end the policy, Newsom vetoed the measure. When the board overturned his veto, the Newsom administration continued referring young people to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, former Supervisor David Campos said.
The policy “led to the deportation of many youth, including many youth who were wrongly convicted,” Campos said. “(Newsom has) been trying to position himself as a champion of sanctuary cities. Don't rewrite history.”
Campos said it was improper to turn over young immigrants before they had been convicted, saying they deserved due process. Newsom has since agreed and apologized for enacting that policy.
“These were people charged … but not convicted. Some people ultimately were exonerated that got caught up in it,” Newsom told The Sacramento Bee in July. “I'll just say this to my critics: fair game. Looking back, there were things we could have done differently. I'm very honest about that.”
Part of the foundation of Newsom's campaign for governor has been his strong support for establishing a single-payer health care system in California.
As evidence of his longstanding dedication to the issue, Newsom points to the San Francisco universal health care system adopted in 2006 while he was mayor. Healthy San Francisco, as it was known, was the first of its kind in the nation, and at its peak provided affordable care to more than 70,000 uninsured residents in the city.
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