[Free Beacon] New polling shows that affirmative action is unpopular among California voters, even as California Democrats move to reinstate the practice at public universities.A new poll from the Public Policy Institute of California shows 47 percent of California voters plan to vote against Proposition 16, a ballot measure that would repeal the state's ban on racial preferences in public institutions. Just 31 percent of voters say they support the measure, and 22 percent are undecided. Prop 16 has nonetheless garnered approval from powerful left-leaning stakeholders, including the University of California system, which voted unanimously to endorse the ballot measure in June. The UC's board of regents said its endorsement was part of the "amazing momentum for righting the wrongs caused by centuries of systemic racism in our country."
Vice-presidential candidate and former California attorney general Kamala Harris is another big-name proponent of Prop 16, despite its unpopularity in her own state. Before she became a U.S. senator, Harris filed legal briefs in favor of race-based admissions at both the University of Texas and the University of Michigan. The UC system—the top lobbying force behind Prop 16—was the top donor to her 2020 presidential bid.
Likewise, Reps. Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) and Karen Bass (D., Calif.), former Democratic presidential candidates Pete Buttigieg and Tom Steyer, and Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti (D.) have all endorsed the measure. So have a slew of teachers' unions and a Los Angeles Unified School District board member, who represents the second-largest public school district in the country.