The recall of two progressive East Bay elected officials suggests a political shift to the right in a region long considered liberal.
East Bay residents voted to recall Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price, while Oaklanders voted to recall Mayor Sheng Thao.
Understanding why voters ousted these two progressives could be explained by analyzing these progressive politicians’ policies and perceptions of the outcomes.
DA Price pursued alternatives to incarceration, ending the death penalty, and holding police accountable for unlawful conduct. Media reports of declining criminal prosecution rates and early releases through plea deals for people charged with violent crimes like murder followed.
Mayor Thao campaigned on a platform of community safety and addressing homelessness through investments in affordable housing, economic opportunities, and clean and healthy neighborhoods. Highlights from her
tenure as mayor include the FBI raiding her home and firing then-Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong a week into her term without naming an immediate replacement. While Oakland car-bippings jumped 23%, her response to concerns about increased crime during her first year was that crime didn’t start on her watch.
The recalls in the East Bay reflect widespread frustration related to public safety.
San Francisco Mayor London Breed also lost her re-election bid to Levi’s heir, Daniel Luri, who campaigned on clean and safe streets as their top issue.
While voters re-elected a former President Donald Trump, a Republican, Californians rejected Proposition 6, a progressive policy that would have outlawed forced labor in prisons. Voters also approved Proposition 36, which will increase penalties for theft and drug-related crimes, rolling back a decade-long proposition that classified such crimes as misdemeanors.
While some Democrats may not understand why Americans voted for a man charged with 34 felonies, who uses racist rhetoric, and has multiple sexual assault allegations, it’s not that surprising. As a Democratic voter who was rooting for VP Kamala Harris, I fully expected Trump to win.
Many attribute the economy as being the biggest factor that influences elections. Pew Research Center found that 73% of surveyed U.S. adults said strengthening the economy should be the top priority for the President and Congress. President Joe Biden’s term has been characterized by inflation and economic hardships, which Trump used to campaign against Harris.
Many economists expressed concerns and opposition to Trump’s economic plans. His plan to impose tariffs on all imports will raise costs for American businesses and consumers, they said. Yet President-elect Trump convinced many working-class Americans that he was the candidate who would bolster the economy, while Harris would continue “Bidenomics” and inflation.
There is a similar phenomenon happening in the East Bay that leads to the ousting of progressive politicians. For Oakland and the overall East Bay, voters are concerned with affordable housing, rising costs, and homelessness.
Voters elect progressives like Price and Thao because people want to live in a country where its institutions are fair and help people, rather than punish them. This is why people call for programs that provide alternatives to incarceration. But many of these progressive policies are not fully funded or implemented. Poor implementation of progressive policies is why Oregon voted to reverse drug decriminalization.
Price’s policies aimed to reform the justice system to focus on rehabilitation over incarceration, especially for people of color. But many East Bay residents saw it as criminals getting reduced punishment, or no jail time at all, without any clarity on whether or not offenders were rehabilitated.
The shift toward conservative politics in this election cycle isn’t just a mere coincidence. It reflects growing frustration amongst Americans being told by progressive politicians the importance of social justice, but having their pleas to address housing inequality and high crime are seemingly ignored by those same progressive politicians.
Americans can get to a point where they truly embrace social justice values. But many of the progressive policies are not fully implemented and as a result, have an unintended negative spillover effect. Until progressive policies carry out their social justice mission, without harming people’s day-to-day lives, there will be more progressive politicians getting voted out or recalled.
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