With the state’s most prominent politicians being affected by the increasing crime rate, Democrats may find themselves on thin ice in California.
Political analysts are taking note of voters’ growing anxiety about crime in the lead-up to the November election. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass (D-LA) and Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) were both targeted by burglaries and robberies, which escalated the situation.
Public Policy Institute of California survey director Mark Baldassare agreed that voters are very concerned about crime, even though far-left media outlets characterized the crimes as bait for Republican critics who frequently attack California’s public safety policies.
According to Baldassare’s own data, the percentage of potential voters who ranked crime as the most significant problem in their lives increased from 8% in December 2023 to 12% in February. The increase was most pronounced among those who did not identify with any political party; 17% of these voters now rank crime as their first concern.
Baldassare added that the problem with crime is that it doesn’t take much to make people afraid.
Some seats in the US House of Representatives might be at risk in swing districts, according to Republican strategist Rob Stutzman. This includes the open Senate contest between Schiff and Republican opponent Steve Garvey. A number of Democrat state legislators’ efforts to combat crime highlight their weakness in the run-up to the general election.
It is ironic that congressmen like Schiff, who enacted laws that were lenient on crime, are now victims of crime, as pointed out recently by Steve Cooley, a former Los Angeles District Attorney. During a cable news interview, Cooley said that the supermajority Democrat legislature should roll back some of its careless legislation that has severely damaged public safety if it wants to really reduce crime.
Research from California’s Public Policy Institute shows that the state’s violent crime rate is 13.5 percent higher than it was in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic. There was a 13% rise in armed robberies since 2019, a 37.7% increase in gun-related killings, and a 61.1% increase in aggravated assaults.
