May 5, 2025
Governor Gavin Newsom
1021 O Street, Suite 9000
Sacramento, CA 95814

Dear Gavin,

Honestly, what on earth do you think you and your party are doing? I suppose you think that after 15 years of one-party Democrat rule, you can get away with literally anything. Well, those days are over. You and I know each other, and I know that you’re better than this. But unless you take action as I outline below, you can be sure that the vile, cynical, morally bankrupt behavior we have witnessed from Democrats in California these past few days will become indelibly attached to your campaign for the presidency in 2028. 

You are the leader of the California Democratic Party. That title comes with responsibilities, especially when your party chooses extremist ideology and partisan politics over protecting children.

Last week, Democrats in the California State Assembly blocked Assembly Bill 379, legislation that would have made it an automatic felony to purchase 16- and 17-year-olds for sex. The bill, initially authored by a Democrat and backed by prosecutors and anti-trafficking advocates as well as the entire Republican caucus, was gutted by your party and replaced with empty, meaningless verbiage.

Instead of protecting minors, your party stripped the felony provision and inserted this:

“It is the intent of the Legislature to adopt the strongest laws to protect 16- and 17-year-old victims and strengthen protections in support of victims of human trafficking.”

Intent means nothing. Action is everything. Your party took action to protect predators, not children. That alone is shameful.

But it gets worse.

Instead of owning this disgraceful vote, your party is now spending taxpayer money (donations from your bosses, the government unions) running political ads accusing Republicans like my friend Assemblyman Josh Hoover of doing what Democrats actually did, siding with predators over kids. Josh fought to protect children from sex traffickers. He has a family. He has children of his own. And now he is being smeared and slandered by your party in a grotesque effort to cover up the truth.

I hope every Republican falsely smeared in this way pursues a defamation lawsuit. There should be serious consequences for this calculated, malicious dishonesty.

And your silence? It’s not leadership, it’s complicity.

You recently told Bill Maher the Democratic Party brand is “toxic.” In another interview, you said, “I don’t know what the party is. I’m still struggling with that.” Well, here’s a start: the party that protects predators and then lies about it is toxic. It is morally bankrupt. But the correct response to all this should not be a struggle for anyone.

Even you said, “The law should treat all sex predators who solicit minors the same — as a felony, regardless of the intended victim’s age. Full stop.” But your party just did the opposite, again.

This isn’t the first time Democrats blocked efforts to strengthen protections for children. When Sen. Shannon Grove introduced a bill to classify human trafficking of minors as a “serious felony,” your party killed it. Only after public outrage and forced amendments was it revived.

Now we’re back to the same sick pattern. Protect the predators. Smear the people trying to protect the victims.

Gavin: Come on. You know this is wrong. If you truly believe what you’ve said, you will surely act like it. Stand up and lead. Condemn your party’s actions. Denounce the lies. Demand that this sick Democrat ad campaign be pulled immediately, and that any unspent funds be donated to charities that support the victims of sex trafficking. 

Most importantly, lead your party on what matters most: reversing last week’s shameful vote so we can work together to protect children in California.

This is one of the most despicable political stunts I have ever seen: California Democrats BLOCK a law to make buying kids for sex a felony… then run ads blaming Republicans.

You know it’s wrong. You know it’s a lie. And as the leader of your party, you must say so — loudly, clearly, and immediately.

Sincerely,

Steve Hilton

Candidate for Governor of California