With the stakes high, over $400m has been raised so far – easily a national record for a ballot initiative fight, and nearly doubling the previous mark in California set in 2020 – with another seven weeks to go until balloting ends on 8 November.
It was political salesmanship, “not a cure-all”, he said. Jack Pitney, a political scientist at Claremont McKenna College, said “something for nothing” promises had been used in the past to sell state lotteries as a boundless source for education funding. The skeptics include the state’s Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom, who has not taken a position on either proposal but has said Proposition 27 “is not a homeless initiative” despite the claims in advertising. Further clouding the issue: there are two sports betting questions on the ballot. Instead, the ads tease a cornucopia of benefits from new revenues – helping unhoused people, aiding people with mental illness and providing financial security for poorer nations that haven’t seen a windfall from casino gambling.
