California voters pass tough-on-crime initiative to make some shoplifting, drug offenses felonies

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California voters were deciding on 10 ballot measures including one that would turn some nonviolent crimes, like shoplifting, into felonies again, and another that would make the state’s minimum wage the highest in the nation.

Here’s a look at some of the most consequential propositions being put before voters:

Frustrated with what they see as rampant retail crimes, voters approved an initiative making shoplifting a felony for repeat offenders again and increasing penalties for some drug charges, including those involving the synthetic opioid fentanyl. The tough-on-crime ballot measure also gives judges the authority to order people with multiple drug charges to get treatment.

The measure partly rolls back a progressive law passed by voters in 2014 that downgraded several nonviolent crimes to misdemeanors, including theft under $950 in value and some drug offenses. The reversal reflects widespread anger among voters who are increasingly pinning the blame for homelessness and retail theft on criminal justice reform and progressive district attorneys.

It’s hard to quantify the retail crime issue in California because of the lack of local data. But many point to videos of large groups of people stealing in plain sight, such as at a boarded-up Nike store in Los Angeles after the Dodgers won the World Series last week, as evidence of a crisis.

Proponents said the initiative is necessary to close legal loopholes that have made it challenging for law enforcement to punish shoplifters and drug dealers. The measure will also help the state address the homelessness and drug crises, they said.

“It was clear to us in the last year that this is desperately needed for Californians,” said Anne Marie Schubert, co-chair of the coalition supporting the measure. “This is a resounding message that Californians are ready to have safer communities.”

Opponents, including Democratic state leaders and social justice groups, said it will disproportionately imprison poor people and those with substance use issues rather than target ringleaders who hire large groups of people to steal goods for resale online. The initiative will also take away drug and mental health funding that comes from savings from incarcerating fewer people.

“Voters wanted solutions, but they were sold a false promise,” said Tinisch Hollins, executive director of Californians for Safety and Justice, which co-authored the 2014 law. “With this initiative passing and potentially threatening hundreds of millions of dollars to stabilize those programs, we’re going to be a lot worse off than we were before.”

This would increase the minimum wage to $18 per hour by 2026, up from the current rate of $16 per hour for most people. It was too early to call as of late Tuesday.

Fast food workers already got a pay boost this year to at least $20 an hour, and some health care workers now make a minimum of $23 an hour.

If approved, California would have the country’s highest statewide minimum wage. In 2016 it became the first state to pass a $15 an hour minimum wage. About 40 cities and counties already have minimum wages higher than the statewide rate, and six of them require minimums above $18 per hour as of this year.

Hawaii passed a law in 2022 raising its minimum wage to $18 an hour by 2028.

Proponents of the California measure estimate that it would benefit 2 million workers including hotel and grocery employees. Opponents say it would increase costs, lead to higher taxes and push businesses to cut jobs.

This asks voters for permission to borrow $10 billion for various climate programs, in what would be the state’s largest investment in fighting climate change to date. It was too early to call as of late Tuesday.

The largest chunk of the money, $3.8 billion, would go to improving drinking water systems and preparing for droughts and floods. Wildfire preparedness programs would get $1.5 billion, while $1.2 billion would be targeted to combating sea level rise.

The rest would be divided among programs on parks and outdoor recreation; air quality; extreme heat preparedness; protecting biodiversity; and farm and ranch sustainability.

Proponents of the measure say it would help the state better prepare for a changing climate and increasing threats of wildfires, water pollution and extreme heat.

Opponents say the bond is “the most expensive way” to pay for programs that could be funded through the budget.

It would cost taxpayers about $16 billion to pay off, in annual installments of $400 million.

This would change the state Constitution to ban forced labor in any form. The constitution currently bans it except as punishment for crime. It was too early to call as of late Tuesday, but neighboring Nevada passed a similar measure.

That exemption has become a target of criminal justice advocates who are concerned about prison labor conditions. People who are incarcerated are often paid less than $1 an hour to fight fires, clean cells and do landscaping at cemeteries.

The initiative is included in a package of reparations proposals introduced by lawmakers as part of an effort to atone and offer redress for a history of racism and discrimination against Black Californians.

Several other states, including Alabama, Oregon, Tennessee and Vermont, have in recent years approved constitutional amendments removing slavery and involuntary servitude exceptions.

Austin is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Austin on Twitter: @ sophieadanna

A voter works on her ballot at a polling place at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Simi Valley, Calif. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Marsha Molinari of West Hollywood, Calif., holds a cell phone at a polling place at the Connie Norman Transgender Empowerment Center on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in West Hollywood, Calif. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

FILE - An inmate selects the letters and numbers to be used to make a specialty license plate by Prison Industries at Folsom State Prison, May 15, 2012, in Folsom, Calif.(AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File)

FILE - Marina Maalouf, a longtime resident of Hillside Villa who participated in protests after rents doubled in 2019, stands for a photo inside her apartment building in Los Angeles on Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong,File)

FILE - Lawrence Cheng, left, whose family owns seven Wendy's locations south of Los Angeles, works with part-time employee Adriana Ruiz at his Wendy's restaurant in Fountain Valley, Calif., June 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong,File)

FILE - 7-Eleven leadership and franchisees support the Yes on Prop 36 campaign outside the 7-Eleven that was robbed by about 50 juveniles in late September in Los Angeles during a news conference, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes,File)

FILE - Neighbors and local business owners join in to support California's Proposition 36 on the November ballot at a news conference in the Venice neighborhood of Los Angeles on Monday, Sept. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)

DETROIT (AP) — Between redistricting and incumbents forgoing reelection, four congressional seats in Michigan were key targets as the parties vied for control of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Republicans sought to flip two open congressional seats in central Michigan as the GOP tries to broaden its majority. Both were redrawn in 2021, yielding Democratic victories in the midterm elections. Now this year's races have been true tossups, some of the most competitive in the country, with millions of dollars poured into the campaigns.

Incumbents easily won Michigan’s other congressional races. They include Republicans Jack Bergman, John Moolenaar, Bill Huizenga, Tim Walberg and Lisa McClain; and Democrats Debbie Dingell, Haley Stevens, Rashida Tlaib and Shri Thanedar.

After longtime Democrat Dan Kildee announced he would not seek reelection in Michigan's 8th District, Republicans saw the first opportunity in decades to flip the seat red. Kildee had served since 2012 when he succeeded his uncle Dale Kildee, who represented the area including the cities of Flint and Saginaw in Congress for 36 years.

For Republicans, former news anchor and Trump administration immigration official Paul Junge is making his third bid for Congress after losing to the younger Kildee in 2022 by about 10 points.

Junge appealed to voters over economic and immigration concerns. He also attacked Democrat Kristen McDonald Rivet over national security and sought to tie her to a Chinese-based battery manufacturing company looking to build in Michigan that has been a target for Republicans.

McDonald Rivet, a freshman state senator, painted Junge as a Californian outsider and cast herself as a middle class pragmatist. She focused her messaging on preserving reproductive rights and like her opponent, the economy.

Republican Tom Barrett won his bid for Michigan’s 7th congressional district, flipping the open seat in central Michigan away from Democrats. Barrett prevailed against Democrat Curtis Hertel Jr. in a competitive race for the seat that includes the state capital of Lansing.

Barrett is a former state representative and senator. He previously ran for the same seat in the 2022 midterms but lost to Democrat Elissa Slotkin, who vacated the seat to run for U.S. Senate.

Hertel is a former state senator who more recently served as Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s legislative director.

Their race was expected to be one of the closest in the country. Both candidates criticized the other over national issues such as reproductive rights and national security. Barrett tried to appeal to crossover voters with messaging on inflation, the economy and security at the southern border.

Hertel conceded to Barrett in a statement at 3 a.m. by wishing the Republican well and thanking his own supporters.

“To every single volunteer, supporter, and member of Team Hertel who helped our campaign—from building yard signs, to donating a few bucks, to knocking doors and making calls—I will forever be grateful, and I am sorry this election did not turn out differently," the statement said.

Democratic freshman U.S. Rep. Hillary Scholten has secured her second term representing Michigan in Congress.

In 2022, Scholten became the first Democrat to represent the city of Grand Rapids in the U.S. House since the 1970s after the district was redrawn.

“I set out to build a new political home in West Michigan, and with this decisive victory, we’ve proven that what we made is built to last,” Scholten said in a statement posted to X.

However, the district in western Michigan is still seen as a Republican stronghold, especially in the populous Kent County. The Republicans targeted the county with multiple visits as former President Donald Trump campaigned to return to the White House.

The county went for Trump in 2016 and President Joe Biden in 2020.

Voters in Michigan's 10th congressional district — which includes the all-important suburbs of Macomb County north of Detroit — will decide a rematch between Republican incumbent Rep. John James and Democrat Carl Marlinga.

Marlinga lost by just 1,600 votes in 2022, and the district is now seen as competitive, drawing money and attention from Democratic national groups.

Michigan Democratic House candidate Curtis Hertel speaks at a campaign rally for Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris at Jenison Field House on the campus of Michigan State University, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024, in East Lansing, Mich. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Rep. John James, R-Mich., speaks before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump during a campaign rally at Macomb Community College Friday, Nov. 1, 2024, in Warren, Mich. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)