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California taxpayers are shelling out more than $207,000 a year for Terry Schanz — and the Democratic power broker apparently decided to spend part of his workday making penis jokes.
Schanz, chief of staff to Democratic Assemblywoman Tina McKinnor, is now facing multiple formal HR complaints after he allegedly barged into an Aug. 19 sidewalk interview outside the California Capitol and launched a crude personal attack on independent journalist Nick Shirley.
According to KCRA, several complaints have been filed with the California Legislature’s HR department — and Schanz is expected to face consequences for his behavior.
Have heard from multiple sources over the last couple of days that several complaints have formally been filed with CALeg's HR against Terry Schanz, Chief of Staff to LA Assemblywoman Tina McKinnor.
I've also been told that Schanz will face consequences for how he behaved here https://t.co/5FWeYNZeKT
Schanz earns $17,319 a month, or $207,828 a year, in taxpayer-funded compensation.
Yet while Shirley was doing his job outside the Capitol, Schanz allegedly turned up with a piece of paper that read:
“Allegedly Nick Shirley Has a Small Penis. Prove Me Wrong.”
Then he piled on.
“Did you guys hear that Nick Shirley has a small penis allegedly?” Schanz asked.
The spectacle came in the middle of a serious political debate.
Shirley was interviewing California politicians about Assembly Bill 2624, the “Privacy for immigration support services providers” bill, authored by Democratic Assemblywoman Mia Bonta.
The legislation calls for protections for immigrant-run businesses, including health care providers, from “online harassment” and doxxing.
Republicans have dubbed it the “Stop Nick Shirley Act.”
Shirley has criticized the legislation, saying it was created after he “exposed widespread fraud in immigrant communities” in California and Minnesota.
The bill has passed the California Legislature and is now sitting on Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk.
Newsom has until Sept. 30 to sign or veto it.
The Senate passed the measure 30-10 along strict party lines.
But Schanz’s Capitol sideshow is just the latest controversy surrounding the Democratic operative.
His name previously surfaced in a 2025 wrongful-termination lawsuit containing allegations of political bullying and a toxic workplace culture within top Assembly leadership.
Then, in January, his office faced scrutiny over allegations that it pressured nonprofit newsroom CalMatters to alter footage involving McKinnor after a reporter asked her a tough question about an expensive designer handbag.
As chairman of the Sacramento Democratic Party, Schanz has also faced accusations from local moderates and conservatives of aggressive political bullying and freezing out opponents.
Now he has managed to generate a fresh scandal with perhaps the least dignified political prop imaginable.
