2018 CA Senate race: on Crime


Kamala Harris: Focus on helping non-violent young offenders

Harris supported reforming California's three-strikes law, refrained from seeking life sentences for criminals who committed nonviolent "third strikes," and in 2004 instituted the Back on Track program, which put first-time offenders between ages eighteen and twenty-four into eighteen-month-long city college apprentice programs, which contributed to the city's recidivism rates dropping from 54 percent to 10 percent in six years.

"Getting Smart on Crime does not mean reducing sentences or punishments for crimes," she explains in her book. As her website outlines, "Kamala believes that we must maintain a relentless focus on reducing violence and aggressively prosecuting violent criminals." Fittingly, when she became San Francisco DA, the felony conviction rate rose from 52 percent to 67 percent in three years.

Source: Jacobin Magazine on 2018 California Senate race Aug 10, 2017

Kevin de Leon: Gang violence plagues our neighborhoods

While crime is down in Los Angeles, one of my greatest frustrations is the ongoing gang violence that continues to plague our neighborhoods. While walking precincts during my first campaign, I stumbled across bullet casings on sidewalks--just feet from where children were playing. I have ever since been determined to get the handgun ammunition that fuels this violence out of the hands of criminals and gang-bangers.
Source: 2018 California Senate campaign website KevinDeLeon.com Jan 1, 2018

Kamala Harris: Defied pressure for death penalty for cop killer

The first test of Harris's principles came in 2004, after she was elected as San Francisco's district attorney. Harris defied a united chorus of voices--from the city's police chief and police rank and file, to Democratic senator Dianne Feinstein--calling for the death penalty for a twenty-one-year-old who killed an undercover police officer. During the officer's funeral, 2000 officers gave Feinstein a standing ovation after she criticized Harris, who was also at the funeral.
Source: Jacobin Magazine on 2018 California Senate race Aug 10, 2017

  • The above quotations are from 2018 California Senate race: debates and news coverage.
  • Click here for definitions & background information on Crime.
  • Click here for other issues (main summary page).
  • Click here for more quotes by Dianne Feinstein on Crime.
Candidates and political leaders on Crime:

Retired Senate as of Jan. 2015:
GA:Chambliss(R)
IA:Harkin(D)
MI:Levin(D)
MT:Baucus(D)
NE:Johanns(R)
OK:Coburn(R)
SD:Johnson(D)
WV:Rockefeller(D)

Resigned from 113th House:
AL-1:Jo Bonner(R)
FL-19:Trey Radel(R)
LA-5:Rod Alexander(R)
MA-5:Ed Markey(D)
MO-9:Jo Ann Emerson(R)
NC-12:Melvin Watt(D)
SC-1:Tim Scott(R) 		Retired House to run for Senate or Governor:
AR-4:Tom Cotton(R)
GA-1:Jack Kingston(R)
GA-10:Paul Broun(R)
GA-11:Phil Gingrey(R)
HI-1:Colleen Hanabusa(D)
IA-1:Bruce Braley(D)
LA-6:Bill Cassidy(R)
ME-2:Mike Michaud(D)
MI-14:Gary Peters(D)
MT-0:Steve Daines(R)
OK-5:James Lankford(R)
PA-13:Allyson Schwartz(D)
TX-36:Steve Stockman(R)
WV-2:Shelley Capito(R) 		Retired House as of Jan. 2015:
AL-6:Spencer Bachus(R)
AR-2:Tim Griffin(R)
CA-11:George Miller(D)
CA-25:Howard McKeon(R)
CA-33:Henry Waxman(D)
CA-45:John Campbell(R)
IA-3:Tom Latham(R)
MN-6:Michele Bachmann(R)
NC-6:Howard Coble(R)
NC-7:Mike McIntyre(D)
NJ-3:Jon Runyan(R)
NY-4:Carolyn McCarthy(D)
NY-21:Bill Owens(D)
PA-6:Jim Gerlach(R)
UT-4:Jim Matheson(D)
VA-8:Jim Moran(D)
VA-10:Frank Wolf(R)
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Page last updated: Sep 02, 2024