The Democratic mayor of Charlotte, North Carolina, beat four primary challengers in Tuesday’s elections after a brutal stabbing on a public train put national scrutiny on her handling of crime, according to multiple reports.
Mayor Vi Lyles won more than 70% of the vote Tuesday, putting her on track toward a fifth term, according to preliminary election results reported by local media. Lyles drew criticism after the Aug. 22 murder of Ukrainian woman Iryna Zarutska by a man identified as a mentally ill repeat offender, saying the public should have “compassion” toward criminals like him and that “we will never arrest our way out of” crime issues, but the controversy was not enough for primary voters to replace Lyles.
DeCarlos Brown Jr., the stabbing suspect, faces local and federal charges in the death of Zarutska, whom he is accused of randomly killing as she rode home on the Charlotte train. The Trump administration has highlighted her murder as a failure of soft-on-crime policies under leaders such as Lyles. Reports showed that Brown had been arrested at least 14 times before the stabbing.
Violent crime in Charlotte rose to an all-time high in Charlotte in 2020 after Lyles and Democratic Mecklenberg County District Attorney Spencer Merriweather took office in 2017, and the violent crime rate has since remained above pre-COVID-19 levels, the Daily Caller News Foundation previously reported.
“We will never arrest our way out of issues such as homelessness and mental health,” Lyles initially told the public in a statement that made no mention of Zarutska as the victim.
“I want to be clear that I am not villainizing those who struggle with their mental health or those who are unhoused,” Lyles said. “Mental health disease is just that — a disease like any other than needs to be treated with the same compassion, diligence and commitment as cancer or heart disease. Our community must work to address the underlying issue of access to mental healthcare.”
After criticism, including from a Charlotte City Council member, Lyles followed up with a Monday statement that called for “a bipartisan solution to address repeat offenders who do not face consequences for their actions and those who cannot get treatment for their mental illness and are allowed to be on the streets.” She also announced an increased security presence for Charlotte’s rail system.
Lyles will face Republican Misun Kim and Libertarian Rob Yates in Charlotte’s general election in November.
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