America’s Blue Bastions Have Crept Right Amid Rampant Crime And Homelessness
America's most liberal cities and states have shifted their policies to the right in recent elections, as crime and homelessness remain large issues in Democratic strongholds.
Left-wing policies in blue states like California and Colorado and cities such as Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Oakland were rejected by voters last week, with voters passing anti-crime ballot measures and ousting liberal district attorneys and mayors. Some of the policies voters supported include tougher drug penalties, harsher prosecution of criminals by district attorneys and more funding for law enforcement.
"I think people are realizing that it's not a good idea to cut millions upon millions of dollars from your local police department's budgets, [and] it's not a good idea to publish lists of crimes that you're no longer going to prosecute," Zack Smith, senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation, told the Daily Caller News Foundation. "And so what you're seeing is politicians who formally supported those positions are starting to walk back some of their most radical previous policies."
San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins was reelected by a wide margin, fending off a challenge from left-wing candidate Ryan Khojasteh, who worked for former District Attorney Chesa Boudin, according to multiple sources . Boudin was recalled in 2022 after facing widespread criticism for being too lenient on crime.
Boudin prohibited all cash bail in 2020, saying it unfairly targeted racial minorities, according to the San Francisco Gate. The policy was opposed vehemently by the San Francisco Police Officers Association, saying San Franciscans will "pay a heavy price for it."
Jenkins, who has received praise for her tougher crime policy compared to her predecessor, will now serve her first full four-year term.
In 2023, Jenkins increased the yearly number of convictions in the city for the first time in eight years, according to city data. Many metrics of crime in San Francisco decreased in 2023, with homicide down 7% from 2022, larceny-theft down 11% and rape down 7.2%, according to San Francisco Police Department data.
Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price was recalled by a whopping 25 points in her election in early November. Under Price, crime in the county surged, with auto theft in 2023 more than doubling, robbery increasing 19%, burglaries 14% and theft under $200 in value increasing 31%, according to county statistics.
Price vowed to decrease the juvenile conviction rate and not "overcriminalize the youth," according to her campaign platform. The same year she took office, a juvenile crime wave plagued the city, with police arresting suspects that participated in as many as 20 robberies, according to CBS News in May 2023.
Prison populations plummeted under Price's leadership, going to levels not seen since 2003, according to the Chronicle in November 2023. Additionally, Price neglected to onboard attorneys sent by Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom to help prosecute drug crime, which prompted Newsom to rescind the offer. Additionally, a presentation used by Price's office to train victim-witness advocates taught that "the carceral state grew out of chattel slavery" and repeatedly claimed that there was racial bias in criminal justice.
Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao was also recalled along with Price, losing her bid to stay in office by a wide margin, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. Oakland Police Officers' Association President Huy Nguyen told the Daily Caller News Foundation that managing the Oakland Police under her leadership was like "trying to keep a patient in the ICU alive."
Thao cut the Oakland Police's sworn officer count from 728 to 678 since 2022 as of August. Oakland lacked a police chief for nearly a year after Thao fired LeRonne Armstrong for alleged misconduct during an investigation into a hit-and-run involving a police car and a weapons discharge by an officer. An arbitrator report exonerated Armstrong for wrongdoing in September 2023, according to NBC Bay Area.
A city-wide crime report in December 2023 showed motor vehicle theft was up 44% for the year, robbery up 38%, violent crime up 21% and overall crime up 17%. Voters accused Thao of ignoring the city's crime and homelessness problem while touting improvements, according to the LA Times.
"The progressives in Oakland did the same thing they did in San Francisco. They ignored the crime. They ignored the poverty," Recall Sheng Thao spokesperson Seneca Scott told the LA Times. "They need to do some soul-searching."
"Overall, the trend is toward moving toward more common sense crime policies, putting more police on the street, empowering them to do their job's responsibly, and then having district attorneys who actually prosecute crimes," Smith told the DCNF. "And I think what many people are realizing is that being a law and order district attorney doesn't mean that everyone is necessarily going to prison for first-time non-violent offenses."
Portland, Oregon, recently ousted its mayor Ted Wheeler in favor of Keith Wilson, who won handily in the ranked-choice election, according to The Associated Press. Wheeler assumed office in 2017, campaigning on improving homelessness programs, housing options and a slew of other left-wing policies, according to his platform in 2016. Since 2017, Portland's homeless population has increased from 4,015 in 2017 to 6,297 in 2023, according to homelessness advocacy organization Do Good Multnomah.
Wheeler tried to correct the problem on his way out, signing into law a homeless camping ban in May, which would potentially fine or jail homeless people who refused shelter, according to Oregon Public Broadcasting. However, the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office said they would not allow the use of county jails to enforce the law.
In Wilson's campaign, he addressed issues of lack of police resources by promising to provide aid to an "overtaxed" police department by sheltering homeless people that tie up manpower. He also promised to end open drug use and homelessness in the first year of his administration by creating more "emergency" homeless shelters in order to reduce street encampments, citing his experience with his homelessness non-profit Shelter Portland.
Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon lost his seat by a 20-point margin to independent challenger Nathan Hochman, according to an unofficial tally. Hochman will assume the office as the city continues to reel from crime, with violent incidents overall remaining above pre-pandemic levels, according to FBI data.
Gascon faced heavy criticism during his tenure for leniency in prosecuting criminals. He promised upon taking office to not pursue the death penalty, not to try minors as adults and wouldn't give life sentences without parole, according to Bolts Magazine.
For example, Gascon did not seek the death penalty for the murderer of Los Angeles Police Department Officer Ryan Clinkunbroomer. A convicted murderer reportedly called Gascon his "champ" in 2022 after he did not include gang membership and firearm enhancements on his charge. Violent crime in Los Angeles also jumped by 12% and property crime by 15% from 2021 to 2023, according to CalMatters.
"It's mostly a vote on Gascón," Mark DiCamillo, director of the UC Berkeley IGS poll, told the LA Times in November. "Hochman is the other candidate in this race and he's in that fortunate position of running against an unpopular incumbent."
Tough-on-crime ballot measures also won decisive victories at the ballot box.
Californian voters at large passed Proposition 36, which raised penalties for retail theft and drug possession. The measure effectively reversed the 2014 Proposition 47, which downgraded theft under $950 from a felony to a misdemeanor while lowering drug possession penalties. Robberies in California were up 3.8% and shoplifting was up by almost 40% in 2023 compared to 2019, according to the Public Policy Institute of California.
Colorado passed Proposition 128, which requires those guilty of certain violent crimes like second-degree murder, first-degree assault, class two felony kidnapping or sexual assault to serve at least 85% of their sentence to be eligible for parole, raising the threshold from 75%. Voters also passed Proposition 130, which allocated $350 million to the state's various police departments through the Colorado Department of Public Safety.
Additionally, Colorado voted to amend its constitution, removing the right to bail in first-degree murder cases where a conviction is highly likely, according to the state legislature.
In Arizona, voters passed Proposition 313, which requires a life sentence for those convicted of child sex trafficking. Proposition 314 was also passed, which toughens a slew of laws on illegal immigration and fentanyl, including empowering state and local police to arrest illegal immigrants outside of ports of entry.
In addition to local and state elections, the recent presidential election showed a massive swing toward Trump and Republicans.
San Diego County shifted towards president-elect Donald Trump by seven points, Los Angeles County by 14 points and Fresno County by 16 points compared to 2020, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. Latino voters mostly drove the shift rightward.
Nassau County in Long Island, New York, saw a 14-point swing to Trump and Miami-Dade County in Florida swung 19 points to the former president, according to The New York Times. Maimi-Dade was last won by a Republican candidate in 1988, according to CBS.
Price, Gascon and Thao's offices did not immediately respond to the DCNF's request for comment.
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