Voters in Minneapolis and Seattle strongly rejected the Jacobin rallying cry to “Abolish the Police.” In Minneapolis, where the city was embroiled for 18 months by the killing of George Floyd and the ensuing rioting, the proposal to replace the police department with a new Department of Public Safety was rejected by a 56% “No” vote. Attorney General Keith Ellison and Congresswoman Ilhan Omar pushed for the referendum, but Mayor Jacob Frey, Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz all opposed it. Reforms to address the situation will continue, with a police department intact.
In Seattle, the push to institutionalize the protest encampments met up with a drive to reclaim the downtown. Bruce Harrell, who campaigned on taking a heavier hand toward the encampments while providing greater support for shelters and treatment services, trounced his opponent, Lorena González, who had called for cutting funding for the police department in half, by 65%-35%.
