Candidate who actually runs on "defund the police" actually wins [View all]

[WhiskeyGrinder]

https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/local/des-moines/2021/11/02/who-won-des-moines-city-council-results-election-2021-sheumaker-mandelbaum-boesen/8573151002/

Social justice advocate Indira Sheumaker defeats incumbent Bill Gray in Des Moines City Council race

Des Moines voters sent a new, young candidate to the City Council chamber, ousting a longtime incumbent, and supported keeping two other council members in office.

With 100% of precincts reporting, first-time candidate Indira Sheumaker defeated incumbent Bill Gray in the Des Moines City Council’s Ward 1 race. Gray was first elected in 2014.

Sheumaker received 46.36% of the vote, according to unofficial results from the Polk County Auditor's Office. Gray tallied 36.32% and challenger Marcus Coenen finished with 16.82%.

(snip)

Sheumaker, who ran on a platform of defunding the police, is the first Black woman on the council in decades. The late Willie Glanton became the first Black Des Moines City Council member in 1985.

If you're familiar with my posts, you'll know that I don't think "defund the police" is effective to run on, just as I don't think that "abolish the police," an approach I prefer, is useful in electoral politics.

What I do think is interesting is that Republicans use "defund the police" as a scare slogan about Democrats who don't use it, but when one actually does use it, it's not a disadvantage.