Defund the Police Movement Took a Pounding in Recent Elections

Elections on November 2 not only gave neoliberal Democrats headaches with Glenn Youngkin defeating Democrat challenger Terry McAuliffe, factions of the radical Left also came out empty-handed as voters in leftist cities rejected Defund the Police movements. 

John Binder highlighted the most remarkable rejection of the radical Left’s defund the police project, which took place in Minneapolis, a reliably blue jurisdiction and the epicenter of anti-law enforcement push after the death of George Floyd in the Summer of 2020.

The ballot proposal that was put forward in Minneapolis, an area where Binder observed “more than 7-in-10 voters supported President Joe Biden against former President Trump in last year’s presidential election.”   

The voters ended up rejecting the ballot proposition to abolish the city’s police department and replace it with a  “Department of Public Safety.”

Voters were asked the following question on the ballot:

Shall the Minneapolis City Charter be amended to remove the Police Department and replace it with a Department of Public Safety that employs a comprehensive public health approach to the delivery of functions by the Department of Public Safety, with those specific functions to be determined by the Mayor and City Council by ordinance; which will not be subject to exclusive mayoral power over its establishment, maintenance, and command; and which could include licensed peace officers (police officers), if necessary, to fulfill its responsibilities for public safety, with the general nature of the amendments being briefly indicated in the explanatory note below, which is made a part of this ballot? 

Roughly 56% of Minneapolis voters came out against the abolition of the city’s police department. By contrast, 44% of voters were in favor of the plan.

The Empire State also saw the radical Left get checked after defund the police movements were capsized in Long Island, New York City, and upstate New York.

In the case of the Big Apple, both Republican Curtis Sliwa and Democrat Eric Adams ran on pro-law enforcement platforms. The former ran a much stronger pro-law enforcement platform. Nevertheless, Adams rejected the radical defund the police proposals that the far left is promoting in his party.

Adams is a former NYPD officer and a Republican. He won his race with 66.5% of the vote.

In June, Adams gained national attention for calling out New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in an interview with the New York Times:

Rep. Ocasio-Cortez and Maya Wiley want to slash the Police Department budget and shrink the police force at a time when Black and brown babies are being shot in our streets, hate crimes are terrorizing Asian and Jewish communities, and innocent New Yorkers are being stabbed and shot on their way to work. They are putting slogans and politics in front of public safety and would endanger the lives of New Yorkers.

In Long Island’s Nassau County and Suffolk County, Republicans won district attorney seats. Republican candidates exploited the passage of New York state’s controversial bail reform that was a hallmark of former Governor Andrew Cuomo’s administration.

Binder observed that “Bail reform was a vehicle of the defund the police movement, abolishing bail for suspects charged with crimes like second-degree manslaughter, aggravated vehicular assault, third-degree assault, promoting an obscene sexual performance by a child, criminally negligent homicide, or aggravated vehicular homicide, among others.” 

Prosecutor Anne Donnelly defeated Democrat Todd Kaminsky with 60% of the vote in Nassau County. Interestingly, Nassau County voted 54% for Joe Biden in 2020. Donnelly campaigned on a “tough on crime” platform and called on voters to repudiate Kaminsky for his support for the state’s bail reform law.

In Suffolk County, federal prosecutor Ray Tierney defeated Democrat Tim Sini, as evidenced by his strong 57% performance against his Democrat rival. Like Donnelly, Tierney campaigned against New York state’s bail reform law and positioned himself as “a proven crime and corruption fighter.”

In upstate New York, the Democrat incumbent mayor of Buffalo Byron Brown won re-election through a write-in campaign following his defeat in the Democratic primary to self-styled socialist India Walton.

The Buffalo Police Benevolent Association endorsed Brown, who campaigned against Walton’s plan to defund the Buffalo Police Department. Walton’s plan consisted of slashing between $7.5 and $16 million from the Buffalo Police Department budget and urging police officers to retire in order to weaken the police department.

Although Seattle is one of the bluest cities in America, it witnessed a major upset in its city attorney race. Ann Davison, the Republican candidate in the case, ran on a tough on crime campaign, winning almost 60% of the vote against her Democrat rival Nicole Thomas-Kennedy. Thomas-Kennedy was in favor of abolishing the Seattle Police Department and has previously called police officers “serial killers.”

Overall, the radical Left has a ways to go before its fantastical vision becomes a political reality throughout America. The good news is that Americans still have a modicum of sanity when it comes to law enforcement.

However, the Right can’t become complacent. They must take advantage of this climate of social instability and put forward candidates who will exert political power to bring law and order across jurisdictions nationwide.

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