D.C. Mayor Bowser Says Washington, D.C. Carjackings Down 87 Percent: ‘We Greatly Appreciate The Surge Of Officers’
“The federal surge has had a significant increase on crime in Washington DC. and we greatly appreciate the surge of officers that enhance … what MPD has been able to do… in this city.” That was Washington, D.C. Democratic Mayor Muriel Bowser on Aug. 28 praising, of all things, President Donald Trump’s activation of the National Guard and declaration of a crime emergency in the city. The reason? Crime is going down, with Bowser stating that carjackings alone are down 87 percent from this time last year in the 20 days since Trump declared the emergency: “We’ve highlighted the area in yellow that shows the impact of the surge of FBI, DEA, ATF, and park and capital police and other federal agencies in the district. And the federal crime the federal surge has had a significant increase on crime in Washington, D.C. and we greatly appreciate the surge of officers that enhance um what MPD has been able to do uh in this city. The most uh significant thing uh that we are highlighting today is the area of crime that was most troubling for us in 2023.”It turns out the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia is understaffed and overworked with many officers working overtime. Of course, the fact of more law enforcement on the streets reducing crime is not actually that surprising. To address the violent crime wave of the 1980s, surging police force levels throughout the 1990s and early 2000s were effective at reducing overall violent crime rates, as one would expect, an Americans for Limited Government study of Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Crime Data Explorer data from 1985 to 2021 shows, with greater numbers of cops correlating with less violent crimes reported and fewer officers leading to more violent crimes reported. Power abhors a vacuum. That is why the Defund the Police movement after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minn. in 2020 was so dangerous to the lives and property of urban residents through the country.
New Survey Reveals Staggering Double Digit Declines In Favorability For Democrats Among Swing Voters Since 2017
Democrat favorability has plunged among swing voters since 2017, the year before the 2018 midterm election cycle when Democrats won a net gain of 41 seats in the House of Representatives, taking back control of the House for the first time in eight years. Democrats are hoping to repeat that strategy in 2026, but the political landscape has changed — a lot. While Congressional Democrats cling to a narrow lead of 3.6 percentage points in the latest generic Congressional ballot average, there is reason to believe that edge may not materialize in the election next year, considering how rock-bottom the party’s favorability is among swing voters. Democrats are sitting at a historic low in favorability among the general public, and their numbers have absolutely cratered compared to where they sat in 2017 among swing voters, notably, young, independent, and Hispanic voters. College-educated voters, a group which supported Democrats by double digits in 2018, are also increasingly critical of the Democrat Party. According to the latest YouGov survey, Democrats in Sep. of 2017, the Autumn before the 2018 midterm cycle sat at a 47.6 percent favorable rating of voters under age 30 y, while slightly fewer, 41.2 percent, held a negative view. The Democrat Party’s net favorable rating was 6.4 points in Sep. 2017. That positive view of the party has evaporated and reversed over the past eight years, pushing Democrats into territory the party has never faced with young people. The latest YouGov survey from Aug. 24 shows Democrats sitting at a net favorable rating of -35.1 points, with over two-thirds (64.8 percent) of young voters holding an unfavorable view of the party, while 29.7 percent hold a positive view. This amounts to a staggering 41.5 percentage point decline in net favorability for Democrats over just eight years.
D.C. Mayor Bowser Says Washington, D.C. Carjackings Down 87 Percent: ‘We Greatly Appreciate The Surge Of Officers’
“The federal surge has had a significant increase on crime in Washington DC. and we greatly appreciate the surge of officers that enhance … what MPD has been able to do… in this city.”
That was Washington, D.C. Democratic Mayor Muriel Bowser on Aug. 28 praising, of all things, President Donald Trump’s activation of the National Guard and declaration of a crime emergency in the city.
The reason? Crime is going down, with Bowser stating that carjackings alone are down 87 percent from this time last year in the 20 days since Trump declared the emergency: “We’ve highlighted the area in yellow that shows the impact of the surge of FBI, DEA, ATF, and park and capital police and other federal agencies in the district. And the federal crime the federal surge has had a significant increase on crime in Washington, D.C. and we greatly appreciate the surge of officers that enhance um what MPD has been able to do uh in this city. The most uh significant thing uh that we are highlighting today is the area of crime that was most troubling for us in 2023.”
It turns out the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia is understaffed and overworked with many officers working overtime, per Bowser: “And so we continue to do that work um to stabilize and to increase our force strength to what we believe is um where we need to be 3,800 to 4,000 officers… [Y]ou’ve heard me say and I will continue to say we need at least 500 new officers — to hire 500 new officers over the course of the next several years to have the number of officers that we need and to decrease the amount of overtime on that that we use.”
Of course, the fact of more law enforcement on the streets reducing crime is not actually that surprising. To address the violent crime wave of the 1980s, surging police force levels throughout the 1990s and early 2000s were effective at reducing overall violent crime rates, as one would expect, an Americans for Limited Government study of Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Crime Data Explorer data from 1985 to 2021 shows, with greater numbers of cops correlating with less violent crimes reported and fewer officers leading to more violent crimes reported.
Power abhors a vacuum. That is why the Defund the Police movement after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minn. in 2020 was so dangerous to the lives and property of urban residents through the country.
In Minnesota, as police forces were reduced statewide in 2020 by 2.7 percent, violent crime shot up by a whopping 16.8 percent. Similarly, as police forces were surged in the 1990s, violent crime dropped dramatically.
In Maryland, the opposite happened. When former Republican Gov. Larry Hogan came into power in 2015, he immediately surged police force levels by 10.1 percent and then kept them steady throughout his administration, with further increases in 2018 and 2019. As a result, violent crimes dropped by 6.7 percent in 2018, 3.2 percent in 2019 and 11.9 percent in 2020.
In Oregon, similar increases in law enforcement personnel throughout the 1990s led to overall drops in violent crimes reported. A drop in personnel in the early 2000s led to an uptick, followed by another surge that led to more decreases in violent crimes. In 2015, as violent crime began increasing, by 2017 police forces were increased by 8.1 percent and kept steady until finally, in 2020, violent crime dropped.
In Washington State, much the same. Surges of police forces in the 1990s and early 2000s were effective at reducing reported violent crimes. A similar uptick in violent crimes began in 2014, and eventually increasing police force levels from 2016 to 2018 led to ultimate drops in violent crimes committed in 2019 and 2020 by 3.8 percent and 3.2 percent.
In New York State, surging police forces beginning in the 1980s and 1990s also led to dramatic drops in violent crimes reported including during Republican Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s tenure in office that ended in 2001. Afterward, decreases in police force levels by 6.5 percent in 2002, 10.3 percent in 2003 and 1.6 percent in 2005 led to the eventual 0.9 percent increase in reported violent crimes in 2005, whereas a 19.2 percent surge of forces in 2004 reduced violent crime by 5.4 percent. Drops in the force levels in the 2010s also led to upticks in reported violent crimes, followed by brief surges that brought the numbers down again.
Similar experiences can be found in cities throughout the country. It’s counterintuitive, but the more police there are, the less likely you are to call the police and report a crime — because fewer crimes will be committed. While defunding and decreasing police presence makes it more likely you will have to encounter the police.
And the numbers seen now in D.C. are undeniable, with violent crime being eliminated in Washington, D.C. and also the National Guard deployment in Los Angeles assisting in putting down the riots there in June.
Now, President Donald Trump is considering other potential National Guard deployments, including in Chicago, Ill, where there were 573 homicides in 2024. As well he should. As will be expected, the Chicago Democratic Mayor Brandon Johnson will complain, as he already is, but the same thing will happen and the violent crimes would drop. Johnson and the city of Chicago can thank Trump later.
Robert Romano is the Executive Director of Americans for Limited Government Foundation.
To view online: https://dailytorch.com/2025/08/d-c-mayor-bowser-says-washington-d-c-carjackings-down-87-percent-we-greatly-appreciate-the-surge-of-officers/
New Survey Reveals Staggering Double Digit Declines In Favorability For Democrats Among Swing Voters Since 2017
Democrat favorability has plunged among swing voters since 2017, the year before the 2018 midterm election cycle when Democrats won a net gain of 41 seats in the House of Representatives, taking back control of the House for the first time in eight years. Democrats are hoping to repeat that strategy in 2026, but the political landscape has changed — a lot.
While Congressional Democrats cling to a narrow lead of 3.6 percentage points in the latest generic Congressional ballot average, there is reason to believe that edge may not materialize in the election next year, considering how rock-bottom the party’s favorability is among swing voters.
Democrats are sitting at a historic low in favorability among the general public, and their numbers have absolutely cratered compared to where they sat in 2017 among swing voters, notably, young, independent, and Hispanic voters. College-educated voters, a group which supported Democrats by double digits in 2018, are also increasingly critical of the Democrat Party.
According to the latest YouGov survey, Democrats in Sep. of 2017, the Autumn before the 2018 midterm cycle sat at a 47.6 percent favorable rating of voters under age 30 y, while slightly fewer, 41.2 percent, held a negative view. The Democrat Party’s net favorable rating was 6.4 points in Sep. 2017. That positive view of the party has evaporated and reversed over the past eight years, pushing Democrats into territory the party has never faced with young people.
The latest YouGov survey from Aug. 24 shows Democrats sitting at a net favorable rating of -35.1 points, with over two-thirds (64.8 percent) of young voters holding an unfavorable view of the party, while 29.7 percent hold a positive view. This amounts to a staggering 41.5 percentage point decline in net favorability for Democrats over just eight years.
Hispanic favorability for Democrats has also declined substantially since 2017, but not to the degree that it has for young voters. Democrats sat at a net favorability of 8.8 points in Sep. 2017, with 50.1 percent of Hispanics holding a favorable view of the party while 41.3 percent held an unfavorable view. Those numbers have reversed today, with Democrats sitting at a net approval rating of -11.1 points. 51.2 percent of Hispanics now have an unfavorable view of the Democrat Party, and 40.1 percent have a favorable view. This amounts to a 19.9 percentage-point decline in net favorability for Democrats since Sep. 2017.
The Democrat Party has also suffered a significant blow among Black voters, a group which overwhelmingly supports Democrats, but is showing one of the largest declines in support compared to 2017. In Sep. 2017, the Democrat Party enjoyed a net approval rating of 51.5 percentage points, with a full 71.5 of Black voters holding a favorable view of the party while 20 percent held an unfavorable view. Today, the Democratic Party sits at a net approval rating of 24.2 percentage points, with less than two-thirds (60 percent) of Black voters approving of the party and 35.8 percent disapproving. This amounts to a 27.3 percentage-point plunge in net approval for Democrats.
College educated voters, a group which voted for Democrats by a 23-point margin in the 2018 midterms, are also moving away from the Democratic Party at an accelerated pace. In the fall of 2017, college educated voters were lukewarm about the Democratic Party and offered the party a net approval rating of -13.2 percentage points. It wasn’t a high approval rating, but it was enough to lock in the college educated in the 2018 midterms. That may not be the case in 2026. Democrats currently sit at a net approval rating of -28.5 points, with 62.8 percent of college-educated voters disapproving of the party while 34.3 percent approve.
These bleak favorability ratings are stark when measured against the Democratic Party’s favorability among swing voters just eight years ago. The steep, double-digit declines in favorability for a party that has been labeled “weak and woke” by voters is not a surprise. What is a surprise, is that the Democratic Party has the audacity to criticize conservatives for implementing real solutions to inflation, joblessness, crime, and the border, and then expects these voters to line up to support them at the ballot box.
Manzanita Miller is the senior political analyst at Americans for Limited Government Foundation.
To view online: https://dailytorch.com/2025/08/new-survey-reveals-staggering-double-digit-declines-in-favorability-for-democrats-among-swing-voters-since-2017/
