California Lawmakers’ Safety Gets New Attention After Trump Shooting
Measure Would Allow Candidates and Elected Officials to Use More Campaign Funds for Personal Security for Themselves, Family Members, and Staff
The Santa Barbara Independent republishes stories from CalMatters.org on state and local issues impacting readers in Santa Barbara County.
Former President Donald Trump evaded serious injury, or death, by mere centimeters after a bullet struck his upper right ear during a campaign rally Saturday in Pennsylvania. The Republican presidential candidate pumped his fist, his face bloodied, as Secret Service agents hustled him off the stage following the shooting. But one spectator was killed, two were critically injured and the Secret Service killed the suspected shooter, identified by the FBI as a 20-year-old Pennsylvania man.
Saturday’s mayhem is the most recent known assassination attempt of a president or presidential candidate since the 1981 shooting of President Ronald Reagan, and renewed conversations about the country’s deep partisan divide, gun safety and dangerous political rhetoric — especially violent threats toward officials and candidates.
So it’s no wonder that beefing up personal security has been a priority for some lawmakers. As explained earlier by CalMatters Capitol reporter Sameea Kamal, the Secretary of the Senate and chief administrative officer of the Assembly said that there has been heightened concern about political violence in recent years, and a bill is underway to protect California lawmakers and candidates from rampant threats.
The measure, Assembly Bill 2041, would allow candidates and elected officials to use more campaign funds for personal security for themselves, family members and staff. Democratic Assemblymember Mia Bonta of Oakland is carrying the bill and said she hopes to “see it across the finish line for the safety of candidates across the state.” If passed, Bonta’s measure could be enacted in time for the November election.
- Bonta, in a statement: “(Saturday’s) events show that political violence continues to plague our democracy. … This bill has had bipartisan support because people on both sides of the aisle recognize the safety needs in this charged political climate.”
Gov. Gavin Newsom, whose office did not immediately reply to a request for comment, vetoed similar legislation last year, saying that the bill did not clearly define “security expenses.” Bonta’s newest bill, however, has been amended to specify what’s considered a security expense, as well as clarifies disclosure requirements for transparency.
The bill sailed through the Assembly this year and is expected to be up for a floor vote in the Senate shortly after the Legislature returns from summer recess in August, according to Bonta’s office. It has received no vote in opposition so far, though three Republican senators voted against last year’s bill. During a March hearing in the Assembly’s elections committee, Republican Assemblymember Tom Lackey of Palmdale raised concerns about the “broad potential interpretation of security expenses.”
California is no stranger to shootings tied to the Oval Office. In 1975, a member of the Manson family cult attempted to shoot President Gerald Ford near the state Capitol in Sacramento while Ford was en route to meet then-Gov. Jerry Brown. And in 1968, U.S. Sen. Robert F. Kennedy died shortly after being shot at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles while running for the Democratic presidential nomination.
And on Sunday, Newsom said he has deployed 61 Highway Patrol and police officers to assist local, state and federal law enforcement during the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, which kicks off today. “Public safety transcends party lines,” said Newsom in a statement. The plan to send these officers has been in the works since May.
CA Leaders Condemn Attempt on Trump’s Life
California’s elected leaders — Republicans and Democrats alike — quickly condemned the attempted assassination of Trump, the latest violent turn in current politics and a grim reminder of America’s history of political killings.
Gov. Newsom promptly posted on social media that “violence has NO place in our democracy,” a reaction echoed by Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas.
Assembly GOP leader James Gallagher said in an initial statement that “we must completely shut down those who would use violence to snuff out their political opponents.” Sunday, he followed up with a post asserting that “calling Trump a modern day Hitler and making crazed assertions about the end of democracy has not been helpful to the chaos that we now find ourselves in.”
In a statement, Senate Republican leader Brian Jones urged “Americans to take a step back and acknowledge the need for common ground, rather than seeing politics as a polarizing exercise.”
And former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, whose husband Paul was struck in the head with a hammer by an assailant in their San Francisco home, posted on social media: “I know firsthand that political violence of any kind has no place in our society. I thank God that former President Trump is safe.” (Trump taunted the Pelosi family over that attack at a campaign event in California and elsewhere last year.)
Saturday’s chilling incident comes at a key point in the 2024 presidential race.
Democrats have been divided over whether to rally behind Biden — or to find a way to push him off the 2024 ticket. Republicans, on the other hand, were already in lockstep behind Trump as they gather in Milwaukee to officially nominate him — and see him reveal his running mate.
California is sending the biggest delegation to the convention — and thanks to the state GOP changing its rules for a winner-take-all primary in March, all 169 are pledged to Trump. It’s only one sign of how firmly Trump controls the California party.
And while Biden — or any Democrat — is the odds-on favorite to secure California’s 54 electoral votes in November (of the 270 needed to win), Republicans hope Trump’s coattails and Biden’s troubles, fueled by his weak performance in the June 27 debate, will help them add to the dozen congressional seats they now hold (compared to 40 for Democrats).
“We resolve political differences at the ballot box, through activism and by participating in political discourse,” said California Secretary of State Shirley Weber in a statement. “There is absolutely no room for political violence.”
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