Law & order vs abolitionist in Seattle, WA

 I've never been to Seattle, Washington and in watching some of the news going on there is considered "disgustingly liberal". Last year Seattle was in the news for the creation of an autonomous zone that allowed no first responders there. Two people were killed and that autonomous zone arose in the unrest after George Floyd's death and worse still the two dead people were Black.

After initially considering the autonomous zone a "summer of love" echoing the unrest of the 1960s the mayor was subjected to protests. The city council wanted to defund police and ultimately the mayor herself just wanted out, she decided not to run for another term. Seattle like a lot of cities around the nation suffered from a high crime rate.

So it's interesting to hear - and I first learned about this from Liberal Hivemind that a Republican could win for city attorney there and the election was fairly recent:

Seattle political consultant Sandeep Kaushik said the November matchup shows a city starkly divided, with two candidates who each have support but also potential baggage.

“You have a significant chunk of the city that is sympathetic to Nicole Thomas-Kennedy and her abolitionist views,” Kaushik said. “You also have a huge chunk of people who find that prospect nonsensical and even terrifying.”

[Ann] Davison, an attorney and arbitrator, has spotlighted rising crime and homeless encampments. While supporting services and intervention for people struggling with addiction, she says the city should no longer ignore harmful criminal conduct and disorder.

This is Davison’s third consecutive run for elected office. She ran for Seattle City Council in 2019 and as a Republican for lieutenant governor in 2020, switching parties after declaring the Democratic Party had grown intolerant of dissenting views.

While the city attorney position is nonpartisan, Davison’s GOP affiliation is sure to be an issue for critics. Seattle has been hostile ground for Republicans for decades; only 8% of city voters backed President Donald Trump in 2020.

You know I thought the Republican for Cook County State's Attorney could've won last November and he didn't. Cook is a solidly Democrat county so perhaps it's no surprise that he lost and Kim Foxx is considered a bit soft as Cook's top prosecutor.

Who knows about Seattle as it's one of the more bluer areas of the country. I wonder if there is a constituency that wants law & order as opposed to "permissiveness"? It seems permissiveness has been gaining ground especially now.

Thomas-Kennedy, a first-time candidate, is a former public defender running as an abolitionist, saying she’d seek to halt most misdemeanor prosecutions. Explaining her views on her website, she said police and prisons don’t promote public safety, but do accomplish “what they were actually designed to do: control and disappear the poor, the disabled and BIPOC,” referring to Black, Indigenous and people of color.

Even in a solidly progressive city, Thomas-Kennedy is likely to have controversial past statements resurfaced during the general election campaign. Last summer, amid nationwide protests over police killings of Black people, she tweeted that “Property destruction is a moral imperative.” Holmes condemned that statement as “outrageous and inappropriate.”

Holmes is the outgoing city attorney who didn't quite make it past Thomas-Kennedy and Davison. And I misunderstood the role of Seattle City Attorney it's not necessarily a prosecution office as it is just an office to represent the city of Seattle. They don't deal in felony cases though they do deal in low-level offense misdemeanors. So this makes it an even more unusual election.

You have Republican who seems to have an issue with being soft on crime and more "progressive" opponent who wants to be much softer. She wants to abolish the criminal justice system as we know it. Seems like such a small prize to primarily defend the city in civil cases but then who knows in Seattle we might see whether the so-called abolitionist will win or the law and order candidate. Could a Republican gain ground in disgustingly liberal Seattle?