While Democrats narrowly lost control of the U.S. House of Representatives, there are new faces among their caucus, two of whom have strong views on incarceration and American prisons.
Rep.-elect Summer Lee (D-PA) will replace longtime Democrat Rep. Mike Doyle in the upcoming Congress. She has a well-documented history of making statements on policing and prisons.
After the November 2020 national elections concluded, Lee, a black woman, took to Twitter to argue that now was the time to abolish prisons and authorize reparations for black Americans.
“Instead of ‘thanking’ black women, black voters, and especially, black organizers [for Democrats’ success in 2020], give us the investments we need and deserve, redistribute wealth, end police violence, abolish the carceral state, commit to building black-directed political power … and reparations,” Lee tweeted at the time.
On her campaign website, Lee advocated for ending cash bail, the death penalty, and life-without-parole sentences.
“The state should not have the power to end someone’s life or sentence them to death by incarceration,” Lee argued.
Lee is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America and has been backed by Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA).
In another part of the country, Florida may have met Republican expectations in the midterms — led by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’ 20-point win — but the state will send a new Democrat to the House.
Rep.-elect Maxwell Frost was a vocal supporter of an organization called Dream Defenders in 2020. Dream Defenders identifies itself as a youth organization committed to “fight for the future we deserve; a future with no cages, violence, or corporate greed.”
Chief amongst the group’s goal is a “prison [and] police-free society.”
Frost, like Lee, had the backing of Sanders and Warren in his run for Congress. His campaign also received $963,177 from cryptocurrency billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried’s super PAC, Protect Our Future PAC.
Finally, incoming Texas Congressman Greg Casar heads to Washington with a record of strong positions on prison and policing.
The self-described Democratic Socialist formerly served on the Austin City Council, where he was the leading voice in that city’s “defund the police” movement.
“We are showing the country how reinvestments from the police budget can actually make many people’s lives so much better and safer,” Casar said at the time. “This will build momentum for changes to police budgets across the country.”
Casar was also supported by Sanders and Warren, as well as the so-called “Squad,” a group of far-left Democrats in the U.S. House whose most recognizable member is Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY).
Before the election, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) wrote a letter to her Democratic colleagues touting her party’s “unyielding commitment to public safety,” which stands in contrast to the new faces heading to D.C.
“As Democrats, we believe that every American deserves to live in a safe community, which is a necessary foundation upon which America’s families can thrive,” Pelosi wrote. “That is why our House Majority has taken strong action to honor our men and women in blue with the resources they need to prevent crime, while building stronger, healthier relationships between law enforcement and those they serve.”
Pelosi noted that legislative achievements of the House had increased funding for local law enforcement agencies and assisted with new officer recruitment and retention of current officers.
With Nancy Pelosi retiring from their party’s leadership and a new wave of Democrats elected across the nation, time will tell whether these freshmen’s views represent the new paradigm within their party on crime.
