Progressive politicians feel heat from voters fed up with crime

Voters across the country fed up with crime are increasingly looking to oust liberal leaders who have championed anti-police, pro-criminal policies.

In the District, which tallied the most homicides in 26 years and record-high carjackings in 2023, two grassroots recall movements are targeting Ward 6 council member Charles Allen and his colleague Brianne Nadeau, who represents Ward 1. Both were elected to third terms in 2022.

Mr. Allen led council efforts to cut police funding. Constituents have said Ms. Nadeau must take a tougher stand on law and order issues.

Across the country in California, Alameda County voters are trying to oust District Attorney Pamela Price. They say she isn’t seeking longer sentences for criminals terrorizing the community.

Voters fired a soft-on-crime prosecutor in San Francisco and elected mayors in Philadelphia and New York focused on retaking control of city streets.

The era of politicians who turn a blind eye to public safety is over in cities such as Oakland, California, said Carl Chan, a Chinatown business leader.

“Many people who I’ve talked to voted for [Ms. Price] before and actually regretted that,” said Mr. Chan, an organizer in the recall effort. “This democratic process allows the voters to make that choice again. If they really feel that that’s who they want, then that’s who they want.”

The buyer’s remorse in the District began after the 2022 elections. Crime surged after Mr. Allen oversaw a massive rewrite to the District’s criminal code, which Congress shot down for being too lenient on offenders.

The recall enthusiasm against Ms. Nadeau can be traced to one local organizer: a grocer who said he was frustrated by what he said was the council member’s indifference to crime in the neighborhood.

In Alameda County, Ms. Price came under fire after a leaked memo revealed she wanted prosecutors to seek probation in most cases.

Meanwhile, killings, muggings and carjackings skyrocketed in both cities. Residents were often stunned by the brazenness of the violence, whether it was a baker being dragged to her death during an Oakland robbery or the assault of a member of Congress by a vagrant near her D.C. home.

“People are sharing their stories, and people are pissed,” April Brown, treasurer of the Recall Charles Allen campaign, told The Washington Times. “In the responses that [the campaign] has received, pretty much everyone says he’s brushed crime off.”

Many hold Mr. Allen responsible for the District’s movement to defund the Metropolitan Police Department in 2020.

Shortly after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, he posted on Twitter, now called X, about his intent to reduce MPD’s officer numbers by slashing the department’s budget and allowing natural attrition. The District now operates with a 50-year low of officers on the street.

Mr. Allen, a Democrat who represents Capitol Hill and the H Street Corridor, among other neighborhoods, also spearheaded the now-defunct criminal code rewrite that removed mandatory minimum sentences for most violent crimes and sought to offer murderers and rapists early releases from prison.

Mr. Allen and his supporters on the council overrode a veto from Mayor Muriel Bowser to pass the code, but a bipartisan coalition in Congress rejected the law because of its leniency toward criminals.

Those policy positions were the lowlights of Mr. Allen’s tenure as the council’s public safety chair from 2017 to 2022, Ms. Brown said.

Ms. Brown has felt the impact of crime in the District firsthand. Her mother was carjacked outside her home by a group of armed teens in 2020. With her daughter now living in the NoMa neighborhood, Ms. Brown wants to make her hometown safe for all three generations of her family.

Others in the District are trying to make the city livable for their fellow business owners.

In a letter last week, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce urged Ms. Bowser to fix the crime issues plaguing downtown. Leaders from the airline, hotel and clothing industries signed on in support.

Mike Gill, a Trump administration official and a figure in the District’s business community, was fatally shot in January during a carjacking rampage downtown.    

Crime is also crushing small businesses.

Diana Alvarez said her Columbia Heights business, Lit City Smoke Shop, was robbed four times last year. With terrified employees, she invested “astronomical” amounts to repair her store and boost security.

She launched the Recall Nadeau effort late last month. She said Ms. Nadeau, a Democrat who represents Adams Morgan and the U Street Corridor, among other neighborhoods, is jeopardizing entrepreneurs with her positions on public safety.

“That is a major motivating factor for me to do this,” Ms. Alvarez told The Times in an email. “I know how much work and dedication goes into running a business, and the fact that so many others are helpless to this lawlessness is sickening to me.”

In February, voters began gathering signatures in earnest for the recalls of Mr. Allen and Ms. Nadeau.

Both campaigns have six months to collect the signatures of 10% of registered voters, about 6,000 people in Mr. Allen and Ms. Nadeau’s wards, to trigger a recall election.

If the organizers are successful, they will lead the first recall elections under the District’s Home Rule.

Organizers in the Bay Area submitted their signatures last week against Ms. Price.

Safe Alameda for Everyone said it gathered more than 123,000 signatures over the past six months, about 50,000 more than it needed. The recall election could be held as soon as April or May, depending on how long it takes to verify the signatures.

Mr. Chan said the recall is necessary to stop Ms. Price from undermining the legal system.

An internal memo last year from the Alameda County district attorney’s office advised prosecutors to seek probation in most cases. It tasked them with getting Ms. Price’s approval if they sought any sentencing enhancements, which can significantly lengthen prison time and negate chances for parole.

The slaying of nearly 2-year-old Jasper Wu became a rallying cry for Ms. Price’s recall organizers.

The boy was killed by a stray bullet in 2021 while his family was driving on Interstate 880 in Oakland. Ms. Price removed an enhancement that would have prevented the accused gunmen from seeking early release from prison.

“She’s sending a strong message to the criminals, saying that we’re not going to lock you up,” Mr. Chan said.

Defenders of Ms. Price pushed back on attempts to characterize the former civil rights attorney turned prosecutor as an advocate for criminals.

William Fitzgerald, a representative for the Protect the Win campaign to keep Ms. Price in office, said the defendants in the Jasper Wu case face at least 150 years behind bars if convicted of all charges.

He said Ms. Price’s status as a political outsider in Alameda County makes her a target for the well-funded recall effort.

Organizers raised more than $2 million during their campaign, including $390,000 from San Francisco hedge fund manager Philip Dreyfuss. He was also a major contributor to the successful recall of San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin in 2022.

Mr. Fitzgerald said the financier’s donations elevate him as the kingmaker for Ms. Price’s alternative but Mr. Dreyfuss has little clue about finding a qualified candidate.

“He might know more about running hedge funds, but he definitely does not know more about criminal justice and the whole system of rights,” Mr. Fitzgerald said. “There’s just no way in hell.”

The lack of replacement candidates is a sticking point for council members’ defenders in the District.

Rosalina Memos, who is campaigning with No Ward 6 Recall against the recall of Charles Allen, said those wanting to oust the council member have not suggested who would be better at serving constituents.

She said Mr. Allen is unfairly blamed for the city’s crime problems, which fall instead on the police and other law enforcement agencies managed by the mayor.

A handful of police scanner reporters have raised awareness of major crimes in the city, she said, but that information isn’t affecting how she navigates the District.

“I personally don’t know anybody who’s scared to walk to their [car],” she told The Times. “I don’t know whose daily life has changed. I know mine has not.”

An email from Neighbors United for Ward 6, the primary campaign to keep Mr. Allen on the council, said last week that it raised more than $60,000 in its 10 days.

Mr. Allen and Ms. Nadeau have defended their records to local news media.

Ms. Nadeau said she supported legislation to help close homicide cases faster and address problems with the District’s 911 call center.

Mr. Allen said he will keep working on getting police, prosecutors and the courts on the same page to drive down crime.

Their opponents are waiting for the recall elections to be approved before they put forward candidates.

That’s the stance that Mr. Chan in Oakland is taking, as are the organizers against Mr. Allen and Ms. Nadeau in the District.

“Guess what? Even if there’s no one to replace him, it would still be better than what we have there now,” said April Brown with the Recall Charles Allen group.