California Democrats running in June's primary elections ahead of the 2022 midterms in November are facing warning signs, including calls for changes in how Democratic candidates plan to handle the Golden State's crucial issues.
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According to KCBS Radio Insider Phil Matier, the Bay Area has a direct connection to the changing tide of the party and its future in the midterm elections, especially after President Joe Biden denounced activist calls to "defund the police" during his State of the Union address on Tuesday.
"The answer is not to defund the police," Biden said Tuesday, to a standing ovation from Republicans in Congress. "The answer is to fund the police with the resources and training they need to protect our communities."
Matier told KCBS Radio's "Bay Current" on Thursday that state and local leaders had struck a similar tone prior to Biden’s speech, which will directly impact Bay Area cities and their residents.
"It was a stark turnaround from a couple of years ago when the issue was police reform, police accountability, and the plan to defund the police. They even moved on this plan in Oakland," Matier said on Thursday. "But crime started to go up, in some cities we had carjackings and car break-ins, which were rampant in the Bay Area. Within a year, we’ve had a complete reversal.
The city council members who said to defund the police are now saying to refund the police."
The Public Policy Institute of California said in January that preliminary data from Los Angeles, Oakland, San Diego, and San Francisco showed increases in property and violent crimes in 2021 over 2020 – a year in which violent crime increased but property crimes reached historic lows – with reported levels closer to those from before the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2019, California had what was its lowest crime rate since at least 1969, according to the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice.
Matier said crime and homelessness are two of the largest issues Democrats must tackle in the upcoming elections. He argued crime is the primary motivator in San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin's June recall election, and that Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón, who promised a progressive reform agenda, is also facing a possible recall election in 2022.
"What we see is from Sacramento on, is that elected officials are hearing from their constituency and they are worried," Matier said. "Nationally, this is a big deal. The Democrats have found themselves on the tough side of that."
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