Dave Min Can Run But He Cannot Hide 

Scott Baugh’s response to Dave Min’s “Cease and Desist” letter.

How do you know a candidate is nervous about their record? He sends stooges to your house demanding you stop talking about that record. 

• August 8, 2024, Dave Min Sends a Cease and Desist Letter

Yesterday, convicted criminal Dave Min sent a couple of his hired guns to my home to deliver a cease-and-desist letter demanding that I stop reminding voters that Mr. Min is soft on crime, coddles criminals, and has consistently stood with criminals over victims. Mr. Min’s record is clear and awful. It has led to an increase in crime in our communities, a loss of respect for law enforcement officers, and a culture of pro-criminal policies that he has finally figured out don’t bode well for his campaign.

The truth is Mr. Min will pretend to be tough on crime, but he doesn’t mean it, never has, and never will.  Mr. Min has made all of us less safe, and no matter how many stooges he sends to my door it won’t stop me from exposing his record, and it certainly won’t stop me from upholding my pledge to make our community safer.

• Scott Baugh Exposes Dave Min’s Soft-On-Crime Policies

I chose to use social media to expose Mr. Min’s soft-on-crime ways. Instead of debating the issue, Mr. Min’s response was to hide behind his lawyers.  

So, I bring the matter to your attention to let you decide.

What is worse?  Being soft on crime or pretending you are not.  The pretense, of course, is worse because Mr. Min is still soft on crime, but he is being dishonest about it.  Welcome to the world of Dave Min, whom the OC Register had this to say, “Dave Min will say and do anything to get elected . . . [Min] is a politician [who] is desperate to be one and stay one . . . This is who Dave Min is . . .” [1]

• Dave Min’s Track Record Of Being Soft On Crime

Apart from his dishonesty, Mr. Min’s track record of coddling criminals reads like a rap sheet.  Mr. Min voted for “no-cash” bail, effectively setting bail for criminals at $0.00, as he wants criminals back on the street as soon as possible.[2] Mr. Min supported suppressing criminal records for people who commit felonies, so you wouldn’t know if your babysitter, your kid’s teacher or the repair man in your home was a convicted felon. [3] Mr. Min also supported efforts to make it more difficult for police to investigate sex crimes, including sex crimes with minors. [4]

• California Merchants And Law Enforcement Put Proposition 36 On Ballot

California merchants and law enforcement officials got fed up with Mr. Min’s polices and the proliferation of crime in our neighborhoods, so they banded together to put Proposition 36 on the ballot.  Proposition 36 rolls back the soft-on-crime provisions of Proposition 47 and adds new penalties for a broad range of theft offenses. I endorsed this proposition immediately upon its qualification for the ballot. 

• Dave Min Tries To Sabotage Proposition 36

Mr. Min did the opposite. He went to work to actively sabotage Proposition 36 in order to keep Proposition 47 intact. Mr. Min joined forces with Governor Newsom and his legislative colleagues to kill Proposition 36 by advancing a competing initiative and introducing a slew of “pretend to be tough on crime bills.” [5] Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said Mr. Min’s bill was smoke and mirrors and did nothing to strengthen law enforcement.  

But to highlight Mr. Min’s hypocrisy, on June 19, 2024, he also inserted a poison pill into his own bill (SB 1242) which was a self-destruct mechanism to negate his bill if Proposition 36 passed. In other words, the purpose of Mr. Min’s poison pill was to disincentivized the passing of Proposition 36. 

When confronted with what his poison pill would do to Proposition 36, Mr. Min claimed he had not read Proposition 36, so he didn’t know what his poison pill would do. Nobody believes Mr. Min was telling the truth, and for good reason. All credibility is lost when you hold a press conference to introduce bills to sabotage Proposition 36, then you later introduce a poison pill into your own bill to sabotage Proposition 36 – and then claim you haven’t read Proposition 36. It is clear that Mr. Min is dishonest, especially when you read what others had to say about his efforts. 

• The Press Exposes Dave Min For His Deceptive Tactics and Blackmail Efforts

The Sacramento Bee editorial said Mr. Min and his Democratic colleagues were sabotaging Proposition 36 by “gaming the system” because they feared the voters. [6] Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes said Mr. Min and his Democratic colleagues’ scheme was “very disturbing” and would make our neighborhoods less safe. [7] Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said that Mr. Min and his Democratic colleagues were using “deceptive tactics to trick voters”. [8] Rob Pyers was blunter saying that their tactics were an “attempt to blackmail the Prop 47 reform.” [9]

In my opinion, clarified by the facts above, Mr. Min and his Democratic colleagues were firmly against Proposition 36 and in support of keeping Proposition 47 intact. The fact that Mr. Min got caught sabotaging Proposition 36 and, for political expediency, change his position to support Proposition 36 does not negate his attempts to sabotage Proposition 36 and keep Proposition 47 intact. Rather, it reveals his hypocrisy. 

Once again, the OC Register appears to have characterized Mr. Min perfectly: “Dave Min will say and do anything to get elected.” [1] Mr. Min’s policies of being soft on crime (while pretending he is not) are making our neighborhoods and families less safe. Sending threatening letters, hiding behind lawyers, and being afraid to have a public dialogue on the important issue of public safety is the behavior of a coward. 

• Dave Min Can Run But He Cannot Hide His Soft-On-Crime Record

Mr. Min can run from his record, and he can hire lawyers to send threatening letters to stifle debate about his record, but Mr. Min cannot hide from his record. I’ll see to it that the voters know that Mr. Min is part of a progressive movement in this country that chooses coddling criminals over safety in our neighborhoods, and it must end. 

-Scott Baugh

Resources

1. OC Register: “Dave Min will say and do anything to get elected.” https://www.ocregister.com/2024/02/29/still-undecided-in-the-47th-congressional-district-heres-what-you-should-know-about-dave-min/. 
2. SB 262, Passed: 32-29-19, 8/31/21 – Min “Aye”.https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billVotesClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB262. 
3. B 731, Passed: 30-7-3, 6/29/22 – Min “Aye”. https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billVotesClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB731.
4. SB 357, Passed: 26-9-5, 9/10/21 - Min “Aye”. https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billVotesClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB357.
5. YouTube – California Senate Democrats Press Conference. https://www.youtube.com/live/QjxnlOhKd8Y.
6. Sacramento Bee: “Are Democrats trying to ‘pull one over’ on California voters? It sure looks that way.” https://www.sacbee.com/opinion/article289272360.html.
7. The Washington Free Beacon: Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes remarks on Proposition 36. https://freebeacon.com/california/katie-porters-would-be-successor-undercuts-voter-effort-to-crack-down-on-retail-theft-open-air-drug-markets/. 
8. Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer: Press Release: Poison Pill Provisions. https://orangecountyda.org/press/orange-county-district-attorney-todd-spitzer-issues-statement-regarding-poison-pill-provisions-that-would-repeal-retail-theft-legislation-if-homelessness-drug-addiction-and-theft-r/.
9. Twitter: Rob Pyers. https://x.com/rpyers/status/1806834798461354068?s=42&t=R8X8ShpZCbAwLJaJTk5GWQ