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WASHINGTON — <\/span>Political advertising warns about Democratic plots to defund the police. Campaign events feature law enforcement unions and tough talk about law and order. Stump speeches boast about record low levels of violent crime<\/a>.<\/p>\n From coast to coast, Republicans are focusing on public disorder, illegal immigration and violent crime in midterm campaigns as voters sour on their party’s handling of the cost of living and the war with Iran.<\/p>\n The messaging reflects a belief that lawlessness is safer political ground in the midterms despite Donald Trump’s own criminal record<\/a> for paying hush money to a porn star, making him the only president to be convicted of a felony. Democrats have tried to counter the attacks by recruiting candidates with law enforcement backgrounds and emphasizing their own anti-crime plans, but Republicans believe it’s a rare opportunity to go on the offensive in an otherwise challenging year. <\/p>\n \u201cDo you know that right now we have the lowest violent crime rate in 126 years in America right now? Because we emphasize the rule of law,\u201d House Speaker Mike Johnson recently told an audience at Louisiana State University. Crime rates have generally trended down since the 1990s with a brief spike during the COVID pandemic. \u201cWe have the most secure border we have had in the past half century.”<\/p>\n Trump returned to the topic on Monday night in Nebraska<\/a>, warning about how the country used to be before he returned to the White House.<\/p>\n “We had a border with people pouring in, crime like nobody\u2019s ever seen,” he said.<\/p>\n In Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Texas and Wisconsin, Republican candidates for governor have attacked their Democratic rivals as weak on crime or warned they could cut police funding. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, for instance, has lambasted Democratic nominee and state Rep. Gina Hinojosa for not supporting legislation that would require judges to deny bail to illegal immigrants charged with a violent crime. <\/p>\n Hinojosa has campaigned on her tenure as a civil rights lawyer and criticized Abbott’s crime policies as violating civil liberties.<\/p>\n Rick Jackson, a billionaire healthcare executive running in Georgia, has repeatedly attacked Democratic opponent Keisha Lance Bottoms over her tenure as Atlanta mayor.<\/p>\n \u201cI grew up in the type of neighborhood Keisha Lance Bottoms abandoned,” Jackson said at a summer campaign rally. \u201cI know who gets hurt when politicians defund the police.\u201d<\/p>\n In an interview with Atlanta station 11Alive<\/a>, Bottoms emphasized that her administration gave pay raises to police and firefighters, and said she called for increased federal funding for public safety during her time as mayor.<\/p>\n It’s a similar story in U.S. House races. <\/p>\n In Virginia\u2019s first congressional district, Rep. Rob Wittman has attacked his Democratic opponent Shannon Taylor, a former county prosecutor, over her allegedly \u201csoft on crime” record in office. In Michigan\u2019s 10th district, Republican Michael Bouchard is running on his service as a Bronze Star Army captain and son of a longtime local sheriff. He’s claimed his Democratic opponent, former prosecutor Christina Hines, supports \u201cwoke, soft on crime, socialist policies.”<\/p>\n In Colorado\u2019s eighth district, Rep. Gabe Evans touts his time as a police officer against Democratic challenger Manny Rutinel. And in Wisconsin\u2019s third district, Rep. Derrick Van Orden hopes to win a third race against Democratic nominee Rebecca Cooke by painting her as a communist who wants to defund the police.<\/p>\n Republicans hope that by reprising warnings of crime and disorder the party can reenergize their disillusioned base and win back skeptical moderate voters who have drifted over concerns like affordability.<\/p>\n Democratic rivals have responded in kind. Taylor aired an ad featuring 13 local sheriffs who endorsed her campaign. Rutinel aired ads with local police and rolled out a safety plan that called for greater police funding and drug prevention programs. Hines said she’ll continue to prioritize public safety and prosecute corruption in Washington. Cooke has vowed to fully fund police departments in Congress.<\/p>\n It’s yet to be seen if the strategy will prove effective.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve got to talk about it. I think that in many ways, we are the victim of our own success because it\u2019s off the headlines a little bit more,\u201d said Sen. Eric Schmitt, a Missouri Republican and former state attorney general. \u201cHaving a completely secure border now, no one even talks about it. But that\u2019s a huge accomplishment from where we were at before.\u201d<\/p>\n An AP-NORC poll conducted in September found that border security \u2014 which Trump and Republicans often link to crime \u2014 was a relative strength for Trump, with 48% of U.S. adults saying they approved of his performance on the issue. But that was still a decline from a year ago, when his approval on border security was at 55%.<\/p>\n Not everyone in the party is sold on Republicans rehashing the crime message.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t see that bubbling up as a major issue for the voters,\u201d said Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican who chose not to seek reelection this year. Aiming to make the race to succeed Tillis a referendum on crime, Republicans have run ads claiming that Democratic nominee Roy Cooper went easy on convicts during his two terms in the governor\u2019s mansion.<\/p>\n Black political leaders have criticized the ads as racist and reminiscent of past Republican campaigns that used dog whistles to appeal to suburban white voters. Trump made the message explicit<\/a> when he invoked the infamous 1988 \u201cWillie Horton\u201d ad and displayed dozens of mugshots of men of color on a jumbotron during a rally stumping for Michael Whatley, Cooper\u2019s Republican rival.<\/p>\n In contrast to his party\u2019s messaging, Tillis noted his state\u2019s safety in recent years.<\/p>\n \u201cFrankly, when I hear somebody talking about crime in Charlotte, I live 25 minutes from downtown. I\u2019m not worried about walking through Charlotte at night,\u201d said Tillis.<\/p>\n National Democrats contend that Republicans\u2019 message on violent crime is undercut by the Trump administration\u2019s hardline immigration enforcement actions, which resulted in the killing of two American protesters in January and the fatal shootings of multiple undocumented people. They accuse Trump of corruption and have hammered Republicans for alleged complicity in the president\u2019s self-dealing.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is the biggest criminal organization that we\u2019ve ever seen,\u201d said Sen. Ruben Gallego, an Arizona Democrat, of the current White House.<\/p>\n He added that, \u201cDemocrats should be pushing back with the fact that, if not for the fact that he was president, this guy would be leading some type of mafia right now.\u201d<\/p>\n Lauren Bis, a White House spokeswoman, said \u201cextreme Democrats are trying to deflect from their radical soft on crime agenda.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n