How Democrats can win back trust on the issue of crime (original) (raw)

Rafael A. Mangual, a fellow at the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, is the author of “Criminal (In)Justice: What the Push for Decarceration and Depolicing Gets Wrong and Who It Hurts Most.”

Democrats held off a red wave in Tuesday’s elections, but they should beware of misreading the vote. The party still has a big problem on the issue of crime. Even in races Democrats won this week, voters’ anxiety about rising crime rates made their job harder. The issue will not disappear before the next election cycle. So it’s worth examining why concern over crime drives voters toward the GOP and what Democrats can do to blunt that advantage before 2024.