S.F. DA recalled, L.A.'s Caruso advances as Democrats tested on crime

Crime, homelessness and Democratic divisions over the issues took center stage Tuesday as a liberal prosecutor in San Francisco was recalled and seven states held primaries that helped mold each party’s image heading into November’s fight for control of Congress, statehouses and major cities across the country.

The recall of San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin (D) — whom critics called too lenient — came as angst over liberal leaders’ approach to public safety also loomed large in a contest for Los Angeles mayor, where Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif.) and billionaire businessman Rick Caruso are projected to advance to a runoff. Caruso, a former Republican, has pitched himself as a different kind of Democrat who will fix long-simmering crises in the nation’s second-largest city.

Soaring inflation, gun violence and abortion rights were on voters’ minds Tuesday as they headed to the polls in California, Iowa, Mississippi, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico and South Dakota. Republicans are seizing on rising costs and crime to try to retake the House and narrowly divided Senate this fall. They have sought to pin those problems on the Biden administration and liberal policies, arguments that resonated with some voters Tuesday.

Turning in their ballots for Caruso together, a group of neighbors wished for “a better future” before taking a selfie. One woman said crime was her biggest concern — her husband’s brother had been robbed at gunpoint the day before in Burbank.

Democrats are bracing for an uphill battle this fall amid low approval ratings for President Biden and political head winds that the president’s party has historically faced in first midterms. To counter those trends, Democrats are seeking to cast GOP candidates as extremists beholden to Trump.

“I’d like to get a functional country again,” said Iowa voter Mehgin Lawrence, who was torn between several Democratic candidates vying to challenge Republican Charles E. Grassley, 88, the country’s longest-serving sitting Republican senator. “There is a lot of dysfunction in general on both sides of the aisle.”

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Grassley won renomination, the AP projected, and he is favored to keep the seat. In the Democratic race to replace him, retired Navy Vice Adm. Mike Franken defeated former congresswoman Abby Finkenauer, who was also seen as a strong contender. Franken has sought to appeal to Iowa’s swing voters. “It is that middle segment who want logical, pragmatic, smart, dedicated national servants to work for them, leader servants,” he said in a recent debate. “I believe I’m that person.”

The night’s first results from the East Coast and the Deep South, meanwhile, highlighted conflicts within the GOP, offering the latest tests of former president Donald Trump’s influence and more moderate candidates’ efforts to beat back challengers from their right.

In Mississippi, Rep. Michael Guest (R) was in a close race with challenger Michael Cassidy with a majority of the vote counted. Cassidy targeted Guest’s vote last year for a commission to investigate the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection by a pro-Trump mob at the U.S. Capitol. Rep. Steven M. Palazzo (R-Miss.) was forced into a runoff, the Associated Press projected, amid scrutiny of an ethics body’s finding there is significant evidence he misspent campaign money.

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Sam Welford, 45, cast his vote for one of the opponents, Clay Wagner, and said Palazzo has “run his course.” Welford said he does not align with any party but said rising prices under Biden played a key role in his choice to vote Republican Tuesday.

“Look at where we are today,” said Pamela Turner, a retired nurse and “staunch Republican” in Mississippi who blamed Democrats for the state of the country, even as she voted to oust Palazzo. “Look at the price of gas.”

In New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District — one of many the GOP hopes to flip this year — Tom Kean Jr. was projected to defeat challengers who attacked him as not conservative enough. And Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), who has clashed with Trump, won renomination, the AP projected.

Republicans call Kean a top recruit and say the former state senator is well-positioned to flip the seat in November. The son of a former governor and grandson of a former Congressman, Kean finished just over a percentage point behind incumbent Rep. Tom Malinowski (D) in 2020 and will face Malinowski again this fall under more favorable conditions for Republicans nationwide.