Crime is on the ballot – and voters are choosing whether prosecutors with reform agendas are the ones who can best bring law, order and justice
Different approaches to justice are on the ballot in November 2022 in some public prosecutor and Congressional elections around the country, revealing a deep divide about how differently Americans feel about crime and its consequences.
Many Republican Congressional and prosecutor candidates are focusing their electoral messages on crime, accusing Democrats of being “dangerously liberal,” amid a seeming rise of crime in some places.
They are also saying that policies backed by Democrats like bail reform threaten public safety. Bail reform allows people who have been charged with a misdemeanor or a nonviolent felony to remain free pending the outcome of their cases, avoiding the scenario where people are held in jail because they are too poor to pay even modest amounts of bail.