Despite predictions that rising violent crime would sink candidates that backed criminal justice reforms, those candidates mostly survived Tuesday night's elections, and reform-minded prosecutor and sheriff candidates even defeated incumbents in a few key races.
After the recall earlier this year of progressive San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin, opponents of criminal justice reform were confident that voters' concerns over crime would translate into a national backlash—and polling seemed to back them up. In an ABC/The Washington Post poll released in late September, 52 percent of respondents favored the Republican Party to handle crime, compared to 38 percent for Democrats. A Greenberg Research survey this fall asked voters what they feared most if Democrats win full control of the government; 56 percent chose "crime and homelessness out of control in cities and police coming under attack."
