Gavin Newsom and Ro Khanna visit De Anza, present gun control and marijuana plans

Congressional candidate Ro Khanna and California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom arrived at De Anza to promote their platforms, as well as Propositions 63 and 64.
Khanna voiced his support of Newsom’s progressive ideals during the Oct. 27 campaign meeting.
Taun Galagali, Policy Director for the Ro Khanna Campaign, said, “We wanted to thank Gavin Newsom, because he has spent his own money on supporting same-sex marriage, an issue that Ro Khanna also supports.” Galagali said Gavin was one of the first supporters of Ro Khanna.
“I am so excited for Gavin’s future leadership for California,” Khanna said. “The reason I have long admired him is because he was for progressive politics before it was fashionable.”
Khanna said Newsom predated the Bernie Sanders revolution and supported marriage equality and LGBTQ rights. Khanna said the Democratic Party “wouldn’t even let him into the 2004 Democratic convention because they were afraid of how his politics were playing.” Khanna also talked about his campaign being one of the first not to take donations from corporations or political action committees. However, according to VoteSmart.org, seven of his top 10 donors are corporations like Morgan Stanley and Salesforce.
“Ro Khanna has only accepted individual contributions to the campaign,” Galagali said. “Mike Honda was investigated for using taxpayer money for political contributions.”
“Ro Khanna shares my concern for progressive issues such as student debt,” Gavin Newsom said. Ro Khanna stepped in to say, “I’m still paying my student loans off.” This was met with laughter and applause from the students in the audience.
Gavin Newsom took the time to support Proposition 63 and 64, which he proposed and authored. Proposition 63 passes sweeping gun control laws and Proposition 64 legalizes marijuana. “He was talking about the shootings in schools and the need to have safety when it comes to guns well before it was popular,” Khanna said. “It is time we had some common sense gun laws in California.”
Newsom said he worked with the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence and the Gabby Giffords Group to put Prop 63 on the ballot.
“Law abiding citizens should not fear it because nobody is trying to take away their guns,” Newsom said. “The only people who should fear it are felons and people who have committed violent misdemeanors.”
The Newsom administration toured the state with the Blue Ribbon Committee, a group of Democrats and Republicans who wrote a government white paper, or research report, on marijuana use.
Newsom said that Prop. 64 contains an expungement provision, that would clear criminal records of past drug offenses.
“I want to legalize marijuana because it has become part of social, racial and economic justice,” Newsom said. “The War on Drugs was an abject failure. It destroyed lives, and I was tired of seeing marijuana being criminalized.” Newsom said he also supported Prop. 57, which would allow non-violent offenders to receive parole instead of prison time.