Republicans return to tough-on-crime message ahead of difficult midterm
elections
[October 06, 2026]
By MATT BROWN
WASHINGTON (AP) — 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.
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.
The messaging reflects a belief that lawlessness is safer political
ground in the midterms despite Donald Trump's own criminal record 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.
“Do 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,” 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. “We have the most secure border
we have had in the past half century."
Trump returned to the topic on Monday night in Nebraska, warning about
how the country used to be before he returned to the White House.
"We had a border with people pouring in, crime like nobody’s ever seen,"
he said.
Republicans say Democrats will ‘defund the police’
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.
Hinojosa has campaigned on her tenure as a civil rights lawyer and
criticized Abbott's crime policies as violating civil liberties.
Rick Jackson, a billionaire healthcare executive running in Georgia, has
repeatedly attacked Democratic opponent Keisha Lance Bottoms over her
tenure as Atlanta mayor.
“I grew up in the type of neighborhood Keisha Lance Bottoms abandoned,"
Jackson said at a summer campaign rally. “I know who gets hurt when
politicians defund the police.”
In an interview with Atlanta station 11Alive, 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.
Crime warnings pervade congressional races
It's a similar story in U.S. House races.
In Virginia’s first congressional district, Rep. Rob Wittman has
attacked his Democratic opponent Shannon Taylor, a former county
prosecutor, over her allegedly “soft on crime" record in office. In
Michigan’s 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 “woke, soft on crime, socialist policies."
In Colorado’s eighth district, Rep. Gabe Evans touts his time as a
police officer against Democratic challenger Manny Rutinel. And in
Wisconsin’s 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.
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.
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Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., speaks during a campaign
event for Rep. David Valadao, R-Calif., background left, in
Bakersfield, Calif., Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Jae C.
Hong)
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.
Democrats point to Trump's criminal record
It's yet to be seen if the strategy will prove effective.
“We’ve got to talk about it. I think that in many ways, we are the
victim of our own success because it’s off the headlines a little
bit more,” said Sen. Eric Schmitt, a Missouri Republican and former
state attorney general. “Having a completely secure border now, no
one even talks about it. But that’s a huge accomplishment from where
we were at before.”
An AP-NORC poll conducted in September found that border security —
which Trump and Republicans often link to crime — 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%.
Not everyone in the party is sold on Republicans rehashing the crime
message.
“I don’t see that bubbling up as a major issue for the voters,” 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’s mansion.
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
when he invoked the infamous 1988 “Willie Horton” ad and displayed
dozens of mugshots of men of color on a jumbotron during a rally
stumping for Michael Whatley, Cooper’s Republican rival.
In contrast to his party’s messaging, Tillis noted his state’s
safety in recent years.
“Frankly, when I hear somebody talking about crime in Charlotte, I
live 25 minutes from downtown. I’m not worried about walking through
Charlotte at night,” said Tillis.
National Democrats contend that Republicans’ message on violent
crime is undercut by the Trump administration’s 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’s
self-dealing.
“This is the biggest criminal organization that we’ve ever seen,”
said Sen. Ruben Gallego, an Arizona Democrat, of the current White
House.
He added that, “Democrats 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.”
Lauren Bis, a White House spokeswoman, said “extreme Democrats are
trying to deflect from their radical soft on crime agenda.”
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