Local Elections in 2025 That Impact Progressive Justice Reforms

While dealing with the dumpster fire that is the fallout from the 2024 election season, it's imperative for advocates of criminal justice reform to look ahead to the local races that could help define progressive justice policies going forward. Considering the national socio-political landscape, supporting reformers on the local level becomes even more paramount to avoid losing the hard-earned progressive victories gained over the last decade.

Noteworthy races:

• Alvin Bragg, Manhattan District Attorney - Bragg, who entered the office in 2022 as a reformer and the borough’s first Black DA, has continually faced pushback from the right. Bragg's opponent in the general election is Maud Maron, a former Democratic candidate for office in New York, who switched parties and is running as a Republican. While Bragg is favored to win re-election, a potential voting bloc of Manhattan Democrats could help elect a "law-and-order" DA to replace Bragg. Despite some local, conservative-learning negative coverage of Bragg as responsible for crime, he has touted the decline in shootings, homicides, and property crimes in the borough over his time in office.
• Larry Krasner, Philadelphia District Attorney - Krasner was first elected in in 2017 as a cru­sad­ing reformer who sought to move Philadelphia away from the stan­dard tough-on-crime policies and toward a smarter approach to jus­tice, reiterating that elect­ing allies into DA offices could be one of the most effec­tive ways to reform the sys­tem from the inside. In 2022, after being overwhelmingly re-elected to a second term, the GOP-led Pennsylvania House impeached Krasner in a politically motivated effort. Pennsylvania’s highest court eventually ruled that the impeachment articles did not meet the state constitution’s definition of misbehavior in office.
• Stephanie Morales, Portsmouth (VA) Commonwealth Attorney - Morales was part of a consortium of 11 reform-minded prosecutors that formed an alliance in 2020 to advocate for statewide criminal justice reforms like ending mandatory minimum sentences.
• Eric Adams, New York City Mayor - Despite a recent indictment where Adams was accused of using his influence to obtain illegal campaign contributions and luxury travel and taking steps to hide his ill-gotten gains, he remains on the ballot to serve as Mayor in the United States' largest city. Adams, who has advocated for more aggressive police tactics such as adding armed officers to public transit and reviving plainclothes police squads, has already drawn a wide field of challengers, including a pair of progressive state Senators, Zellnor Myrie and Jessica Ramos, who have each been more critical of the NYPD.
• Jacob Frey, Minneapolis Mayor - In May 2020 after the murder of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer, Frey agreed to reforms over the years but has drawn criticism from local progressive organizations for dragging his feet implementing these reforms of a police department currently under a federal consent decree.  Omar Fateh, a progressive state lawmaker who backed a reform-minded 2021 policing referendum that eventually failed at the ballot box, has announced that he’ll challenge the mayor in 2025 and has signaled that he’ll run to Frey’s left.

Read more about local races that will impact progressive criminal justice movements in "The Local Elections That Will Define Criminal Justice Policy in 2025" at Bolts Magazine. Bolts Magazine reports on the local elections and obscure institutions that shape public policy but are often overlooked in the United States, focusing on two areas where local governments play a key role: criminal justice and policing, and voting rights and democracy.