The 2020 campaign to restore race-conscious affirmative action in California was close to gospel within the Democratic Party. It drew support from the governor, senators, state legislative leaders and a who’s who of business, nonprofit and labor elites, Black, Latino, white and Asian. Supporters raised many millions of dollars for the referendum and outspent opponents by 19 to 1. None of these efforts persuaded Jimmie Romero, a 63-year-old barber who grew up in the working-class Latino neighborhood of Wilmington in Los Angeles. Affirmative action was not one of those.

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Persons: Kamala Harris, ”, Jimmie Romero, Mr, Romero Organizations: Democratic Party, Golden State Warriors, San Francisco Giants, 49ers, Oakland Athletics, American Civil Liberties Union of, Homelessness Locations: California, U.S, American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California, Wilmington, Los Angeles