A week after the assassination of conservative political activist Charlie Kirk, there’s the question of how the ramifications of a heinous crime committed on a Utah college campus might find their way further west to California.

One obvious concern: the future of free speech and personal security on Golden State campuses.

The rally at Utah Valley University, where Kirk was shot, was similar to past events he had held at the likes of USC in early March, as well as UC-Berkeley last fall. Will conservative activists now shy away from such public rallies? Will cash-strapped university administrations and local law enforcement step up their security efforts?

Another question: Does Kirk’s murder and the subsequent call for Americans of clashing ideologies to dial down the angry rhetoric find its way into California’s November special election?

That begins with the campaign in support of Proposition 50, California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s attempt to temporarily reconfigure California’s congressional districts so as to flip to the Democratic Party a handful of seats currently held by Republicans—an effort to offset a Texas gerrymandering scheme that would convert five congressional seats from Democrat to Republican.

One of the “yes” campaign’s first ads is a 30-second spot titled “Blitzkrieg,” with a narrator accusing President Trump of “following the dictator’s playbook.” Given that the rifle allegedly used to assassinate Kirk reportedly included ammunition engraved with “references to fascism,” perhaps Newsom’s campaign lightens up on the Hitlerian analogies moving forward.

Then again, will Newsom himself tone down the rhetoric?

To his credit, California’s governor (seen here doing a podcast with Kirk a day after the latter’s USC appearance) quickly denounced the shooting and postponed a political........

© Hoover Institution