Despite predictions that rising violent crime would sink candidates who support criminal justice reforms, those candidates mostly survived their 2022 midterm elections. What's more, reform-minded prosecutor and sheriff candidates defeated incumbents in a few key races.
After the recall last year of progressive San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin, opponents of criminal justice reform were confident that voters' concerns about high crime in the COVID-19 era would translate into a national backlash. Polling seemed to back them up: An ABC/Washington Post poll released in September found that 52 percent of respondents favored the Republican Party to handle crime, compared to 38 percent preferring Democrats. In a Greenberg Research survey that asked voters what they feared most if Democrats won full control of the government, 56 percent of respondents chose "crime and homelessness out of control in cities and police coming under attack."
