The Times asked Kim and Kerr about some of the most telling statewide propositions: Proposition 3, to affirm gay marriage; Proposition 32, to establish an $18 minimum hourly wage; and Proposition 33, to allow communities to expand rent control.
Kerr said he would vote in favor of all three propositions.
“When I was a young man, I earned $4 an hour as a firefighter working 72-hour work weeks,” he said. “I dedicated my life to advancing hours, wages, and conditions of employment. I will of course vote in support of Proposition 32 and continue my legacy of advancing worker rights all across the country.”
Kim did not respond to The Times’ requests for comment on this story. But she voted against the 2022 Respect for Marriage Act, which protects same-sex and interracial marriages.
In a 2021 Real Clear Politics editorial, Kim critiqued Democrats’ attempts to pass a $15 minimum wage, which she said “would crush some neighborhood small businesses and make it more difficult for others to hire.”
“In California, we’ve seen the consequences of a $15 minimum wage to low-margin businesses like restaurants, day-care centers, and dry cleaners firsthand,” she wrote. “Tragically, such mandates disproportionately impact minority-owned small businesses, which generally operate on lower margins and whose customers tend to be more price-sensitive.”
Affordable housing is not listed among Kim’s priority issues on her website, and she is generally in favor of lowering regulations and taxes.
In an attempt to keep rents around the country from soaring, the Biden administration proposed in July that corporate landlords limit annual rent increases to no more than 5% in order to maintain a major tax break. But the proposal is unlikely to gain traction in Congress, particularly in the Republican-controlled House.