FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 27th, 2024
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Coby Eiss
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ICYMI: SLATE PROFILE HIGHLIGHTS ROLLINS’ PROSECUTORIAL RECORD IN BATTLE FOR CA-41
“By embracing his prosecutorial bona fides, Rollins is behaving as the perfect natural opponent of a known criminal.”
CORONA, C.A. — A new piece from Slate last week shined a light on the stark contrast in the race for California’s 41st District: a matchup between a former prosecutor in Will Rollins and one of the most corrupt Washington incumbents in Ken Calvert. As the story notes, the matchup takes place in parallel to the contrast at the top of the ticket with former prosecutor Kamala Harris and convicted felon Donald Trump.
Rollins and other Democrats are flipping the script this cycle, proactively talking about issues on which Republicans have traditionally controlled the narrative. The article dives into Rollins and Harris leading on the crime issue, and another recent LA Times piece highlighted Rollins making a similar proactive move on another traditionally Republican issue, going “on offense on border security.”
Read more below.
Slate: Democrats Are Just Fine Running as Cops
Nitish Pahwa | August 26, 2024
- In California’s 41st District, a showdown is taking shape that almost eerily mimics the showdown at the very top of the ticket. There, the Republican congressman is someone who was caught soliciting a sex worker early in his tenure; has consistently been deemed one of Congress’ most corrupt members over the years, thanks to his success securing legislative earmarks that directly benefited his properties; and even came under FBI investigation in 2010 over what media outlets referred to at the time as “an alleged inside deal to buy publicly-owned land.”
- After a slight shift in its borders, the 41st is also a more diverse and tolerant district than ever…the inclusion of the LGBTQ-friendly Palm Springs. As Rollins told me, citing district analyses, tens of thousands of liberals skipped the typically low-turnout midterms cycle but may be persuaded to hit the ballot box this time—especially given the wave of excitement ushered in by top-ticket candidates Kamala Harris and Tim Walz.
- Before our scheduled meeting, he’d been speaking with members of the International Law Enforcement Officers Association, an organization that focuses on fostering healthier relationships between police officers and their local communities. (The association had endorsed Rollins back in April.) Rollins’ emphasis on his law enforcement connections and endorsements—including from retired Republican officers—certainly makes sense for a toss-up race in a swingier district.
- By embracing his prosecutorial bona fides, Rollins is behaving as the perfect natural opponent of a known criminal.
- “I hope Calvert makes this race about crime. He’s got a lot to answer for on his own,” Rollins told me at the diner. The line Rollins straddles here, at least rhetorically, is fascinating. He can sound downright progressive…[a]t the same time, he talks up the line about how California’s Proposition 47—a 2014 ballot initiative that reclassified certain nonviolent felonies as misdemeanors—increased the rate of “smash-and-grabs” in the state, while defending the often-controversial Border Patrol and insisting that increased representation in law enforcement is what will heal rifts between marginalized communities and their cops.
- The post-2020 moment, for better or worse, seems to have spurred interest in those who won’t shy away from law enforcement but still continue to make it more diverse…the strategy could certainly place [Harris and Rollins] in lofty positions of power.
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Will Rollins is a Palm Springs resident and Southern California native. A former federal prosecutor and counterterrorism law attorney, he is now the Democratic nominee for Congress in California’s 41st Congressional District. California’s 41st District is shaping up to be a key 2024 matchup that will help decide the House majority. Punchbowl News called it the #2 most critical race in the battle for control of the House, and the National Journal ranked it as one of its 15 seats most likely to flip this November.
