面对中期选举的关键时刻，美国民主党候选人正在应对过去支持削减警察经费立场所带来的政治包袱。2020年乔治·弗洛伊德事件后，这一主张曾成为进步派的重要诉求，但民主党领导层担心它会损害党的形象和选举前景，转而要求党内人士调整或淡化相关立场。[1]
多位民主党候选人采取了不同的应对方式。威斯康星州民主社会主义州代表弗朗切斯卡·洪曾在2020年发文称"我支持削减警察经费作为废除警察的第一步"，但作为州长候选人后改口表示"州长不能削减警察经费"。[1]密歇根州民主党参议院候选人阿卜杜勒·埃尔-塞义德删除了数十条支持削减警察经费的旧帖文，纽约市市长佐赫兰·曼达尼为自己2020年批评警察部门和呼吁削减警察经费的言论道歉。[1]
民主党战略家对这一转变的必要性有明确认识。安特胡安·西沃赖特表示："2020年的严肃辩论可能让我们失去了一些席位，而我们本应在安全问题上占据优势。"[1]孟菲斯市当地民主党议员伦敦·拉马尔指出，大多数社区居民仍支持警察执法存在。[1]
Democratic candidates across the United States are distancing themselves from previous calls to defund police, a rallying cry for progressives that emerged following George Floyd's death in 2020 [1]. The shift reflects growing concern among party strategists that the position has become a liability in competitive races, with Democrats now seeking to reframe their public safety messaging ahead of critical midterm contests [1].
Several high-profile Democrats have explicitly reversed or downplayed their earlier support for police budget reductions [1]. Wisconsin state representative Francesca Hong, who posted in 2020 that she supported "defunding the police as a first step toward abolishing the police," has pivoted as a gubernatorial candidate to declare that "a governor cannot defund the police" [1]. Similarly, New York City Mayor Eric Adams apologized for his 2020 criticism of the police department and calls for reduced police funding [1]. Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed has deleted dozens of older social media posts advocating for police defunding [1].
Democratic strategist Antjuan Seawright captured the strategic recalculation, stating: "The serious debate in 2020 may have cost us some seats where we should have had the advantage on the safety issue" [1]. Meanwhile, a Memphis city council member representing the local Democratic party, London Lamar, emphasized that most community residents still support police enforcement [1]. These adjustments signal an attempt by Democrats to counter Republican attacks on crime and safety while navigating divisions within their own coalition over how best to address public security concerns [1].