Dave Min’s congressional campaign remains viable despite DUI arrest, survey says

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DUI ARREST NO IMPEDIMENT TO MIN CAMPAIGN, SURVEY SAYS

Despite a headline-grabbing DUI arrest earlier this year, State Sen. Dave Min’s campaign to replace Irvine Democratic Congresswoman Katie Porter next year appears to be holding strong, with a new poll showing likely general election voters favoring Min over his potential opponent, Republican Scott Baugh.

The Min campaign-commissioned survey, conducted by Public Policy Polling, found that after Min and Baugh’s biographies were read to likely voters, Min led Baugh 41% to 37%. When negative information was introduced, that lead expanded to 43% to 36%.

Min was arrested last month for driving under the influence. According to the California Highway Patrol, Min was nearly twice the legal limit to drive when he was stopped in Sacramento in a vehicle owned by the Senate Rules Committee. He is set to appear in court on July 24.

Speculation that Min’s DUI would sink his campaign was off the mark, according to the survey. Just 19% said the episode was a convincing line of attack and 47% said it was not at all convincing. That compares to negative messaging about Baugh’s 1990s-era allegations of perjury and campaign finance violations, which led 65% of likely voters to think that was a convincing reason not to vote for him, according to the survey.

The polling firm surveyed 555 likely voters by telephone and text message between June 14 and June 15, with a margin of error of 4.2%.

‘CHAIN-IN’ PROTEST PLANNED FOR CAPITOL TO OPPOSE CHILD MARRIAGE

Child marriage remains legal in California. So long as a judge consents to the union, there is no minimum age in the Golden State for someone to marry. According to the group Unchained At Last, more than 23,500 minors were entered into a marriage between 2000 and 2018. This Thursday, the group will stage a “chain-in” on the west steps of the Capitol to protest for a law to ban the practice.

SB 404, by Sen. Aisha Wahab, D-Hayward,would make it a misdemeanor to arrange a child marriage not sanctioned by a judge, but does not actually the marriages from still being sanctioned.

Thursday’s protest begins at 8:30 a.m. Thursday.

“We will wear bridal gowns and chains to urge legislators to introduce and pass a simple, commonsense bill that would end child marriage in California,” according to a statement from Unchained At Last.

Speaking at the protest Thursday will be Assemblywoman Cottie Petrie-Norris, D-Irvine, as well as a number of child marriage survivors.

BONTA RELEASES ‘STATE OF PRIDE’ REPORT

This week, well into LGBTQ Pride Month, California Attorney General Rob Bonta released the California Department of Justice’s inaugural “State of Pride” report.

The report details actions that Bonta’s DOJ took in order to combat anti-LGBTQ discrimination both in California and across the country.

“I will continue to stand up for LGBTQ+ rights in California. However, our fight for equality can know no boundaries, which is why I am committed to advocating for LGBTQ+ rights everywhere. That includes the right to play sports, access public services, and receive gender-affirming healthcare,” Bonta said in the opening of the report.

Among the actions taken, Bonta issued a letter to the Temecula Valley Unified School District demanding more information about its recent decision to ban a social studies curriculum that included mention of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay person elected to political office in California.

The report also touts Bonta’s decision to add Arizona, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana and Utah to California’s “Do Not Travel” list for state-funded travel, as a direct response to those states’ passage of anti-transgender laws.

Finally, the report lists the rights that LGBTQ people have in California, including the right of students not to be outed at school, as one California school district is considering.

“This means that even if you are ‘out’ about your sexual orientation or gender identity at school, if you’re not ‘out’ to your parents at home, and you can reasonably expect that they’re not going to find out, then school staff can’t tell your family that you are LGBTQ+ without your permission,” the report said.

The report can be viewed by going here.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Every renter, including the handful of us in elected office, can tell you the rising cost of keeping a roof over your head is a driving reason so many people are unhoused. Solving homelessness and fighting for renter protections go hand in hand.”

- Assemblyman Isaac G. Bryan, via Twitter.

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• Transgender people facing “existential fear” in Florida look to California for acceptance, via Andrew Sheeler.

• Two weeks after the state of Florida chartered two planes to take the Latin American migrants to Sacramento, many of the individuals aboard the flights are still questioning the reasons why, via Mathew Miranda.