Evan Low on X
CV NEWS FEED // A California assemblyman who sponsored a 2021 state law penalizing department stores for not having “gender neutral” toy sections lost his bid for an open U.S. House seat by a wide margin, despite an endorsement from the state Democratic Party.
On Wednesday, media outlets projected that state Assemblyman Evan Low, D-Sunnyvale, will lose the race to represent California’s 16th congressional district to former San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo, a fellow Democrat.
Two Democrats faced off in the November match due to California using a top-two primary system in which all candidates run in the same primary election regardless of party, with the two highest vote-getters moving on to the general election.
However, only Low received the endorsement of the California Democratic Party and Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom.
As of Saturday afternoon, the Associated Press (AP) reported that Liccardo garnered 59.2% of the vote compared to Low’s 40.8%, with 63% of ballots counted in the deep-blue district in the heart of Silicon Valley.
The 16th district is being vacated by longtime incumbent Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-CA, who is retiring after 16 consecutive terms in office. The seat backed the Biden-Harris ticket by 35 points – more than a three-to-one margin – in the 2020 presidential election.
>> DECEMBER 2023: CALIFORNIA WILL PUNISH STORES THAT DON’T SELL ‘GENDER NEUTRAL’ TOYS <<
In 2021, Newsom signed AB 1084, which Low had sponsored.
Per its text, the heavily scrutinized law requires every large department store in California “that sells childcare items or toys to maintain a gender neutral section or area.” Stores that fail to comply are liable for fines up to “$250 for a first violation or $500 for a subsequent violation.”
As CatholicVote noted in December 2023, the law went into effect on the first day of this year.
When explaining his bill three years ago, Low said: “Part of it is to make sure if you’re a young girl that you can find a police car, fire truck, a periodic table or a dinosaur.”
“And then similarly, if you’re a boy, if you’re more artistic and want to play with glitter, why not?” he added.
Low, a homosexual, is the former chair of the California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus and was endorsed by multiple LGBTQ activist groups such as LGBTQ+ Victory Fund, Equality California, and Equality PAC.
Liccardo, a self-professed Catholic, is also a social “progressive” who supports the LGBTQ movement. He also, like nearly all elected Democrats in 2024, supports abortion.
Low’s loss was just one of multiple major defeats for California’s Democratic Party in the 2024 election cycle.
Also on November 5, Golden State voters overwhelmingly backed Proposition 36, an anti-crime ballot initiative that both the party and Newsom staunchly opposed.
The measure passed with over 70% of the vote throughout the state and was supported by a wide majority of voters in all 58 California counties.
CatholicVote reported that “even deep-blue San Francisco County” voted in favor of Proposition 36 “by a two-to-one margin.”
“Failed Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris, a Californian, declined to take a stance on the measure,” CatholicVote added.
>> CALIFORNIA VOTERS OVERWHELMINGLY PASS ANTI-CRIME MEASURE NEWSOM OPPOSED <<
Yet another Election Day blow to the California Democratic establishment was delivered in the San Francisco mayoral race in which moderate billionaire Daniel Lurie unseated San Francisco Democratic Party-backed incumbent London Breed.
Lurie, who is also a Democrat, heavily campaigned on combating the city’s rampant homelessness and drug epidemic, and bested Breed by double digits in the final ranked-choice voting tabulation.
Breed, a key Newsom ally, was a member of the now-governor’s administration when he was the city’s mayor over a decade ago.
