A Republican candidate for Seattle, Washington’s city attorney is poised to defeat a “police abolitionist” contender for the position.
As the initial results came in on Tuesday, Ann Davison (R) was leading Nicole Thomas-Kennedy, who ran as a so-called “police abolitionist.”
According to the Seattle Times, “Republican Ann Davison held a strong 58% to 41% lead in the race for Seattle city attorney, with returns Tuesday showing voters rejecting the brash language of her police abolitionist opponent, Nicole Thomas-Kennedy, in favor of Davison’s law-and-order stance.”
“No race in Tuesday’s city election was more fraught with the potential for unpredictable consequences than the race for Seattle’s official lawyer, who traditionally has prosecuted minor crimes and provided legal advice and defense for the city and its employees, including police,” it added.
During the campaign, Thomas-Kennedy pledged to eventually eliminate misdemeanor prosecutions. According to the Times, she argued that “they are wasteful and criminalize poverty.”
However, “Prosecution would remain an option for repeat drunken driving, minor assaults and violent crimes, but most defendants would be referred to mental health, addiction or restorative-justice programs.”
Meanwhile, Davison ran with a law and order position.
While Davison was leading as of Wednesday afternoon, there were still ballots left to be counted. However, local NBC News affiliate King 5 projected that Davison will win the election.
Last year, anti-police brutality protesters established the Capitol Hill Organized Protest area, which was meant to be an experiment in a police-free community. However, the zone was eventually cleared by police officers amid reports of sexual assaults and shootings.
The same night Davison took the lead in her race, voters in Minneapolis, Minnesota, rejected a proposal to replace the city’s police department with a public safety department, as IJR reported.
Additionally, voters elected Eric Adams (D) as New York City’s new mayor. As CNN noted, Adams who is a former police captain “embraced a public safety message.”
