Affirmative Action Proposition Rejected By Voters – In Dark Blue California

California’s Proposition 16, a ballot measure that would have brought affirmative action back to the state, has been widely rejected by voters at the polls.

Affirmative Action Rejected

Affirmative action was banned in the state of California for public entities back in 1996 with Proposition 209, barring the state from “discriminating against or granting preferential treatment to any person or group based on race, sex, ethnicity or nationality.”

Proposition 16 was set to overturn this.

On the ballot, its description said it would “end [the] diversity ban.”

In such a strongly liberal state like California, it was therefore a surprise that voters rejected it, 56% to 44% with 72% reporting, at the time of this writing.

“We faced a daunting uphill battle against an initiative put on the ballot at the last minute by the state Legislature” said Arnold Steinberg, a political strategist with the No campaign, who had also worked to help pass Proposition 209 in 1996.

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“In a state hardly seen as conservative, voters rejected a repeal of the state constitution’s guarantee of equal treatment by race,” he continued, declaring victory.

California Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez was one of the supporters of Proposition 16.

“It’s unfortunate that we didn’t have a chance to explain it to more voters but we’re hopeful that justice works out,” she said on Tuesday.

America Does Not Want ‘Woke’ Politics

It follows a wider pattern of the rejection of “woke” politics all across the country, despite the ongoing close battle for the presidency.

This, as racially-charged protests and riots continue to this day. 

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Democrats thought that 2020 would provide them with a blue wave on the back of radical left wing policies, and backed up by minority voters.

This couldn’t be further from the case.

Minority voters broke for President Trump in unprecedented levels, with Trump gaining the highest non-white share of the vote for a Republican in 60 years.

Florida, which like California also has a strong Hispanic population, was seen to reject the woke politics of “defund the police,” according to a top Miami Democrat, who blamed that for the backlash against them.

Writing for The Week, Damon Linker argued that whatever happens with the presidency itself, “the left just got crushed.”

With their support for socialism and rewriting the nation’s history, the Democrats “proved to be the most effective GOTV operation for the GOP imaginable,” Linker said.

Democrats themselves are also furious.

Abigal Spanberger, a Representative for Virginia’s 7th District, allegedly was yelling on the Democratic caucus call on Thursday, saying that “defund the police” movement almost cost her her race, and that Democrats must not say “socialism” ever again.

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