The off-year election getting even-year attention

By Mia McCarthy

Loudoun County, Va., Commonwealth's Attorney Buta Biberaj (right) speaks to media in Leesburg, Va. in 2021. | Matthew Barakat/AP

PROSECUTORS IN PERIL — It’s in an off-year election, but there’s no shortage of high-stakes contests across the nation today. There are competitive governors’ races in deep-red Kentucky and Mississippi, ballot measures on abortion and marijuana legalization in Ohio, revealing state legislative elections in Virginia and New Jersey, an assortment of big-city mayoral races and scores of other local elections that will provide valuable snapshots of the issue landscape and national mood in advance of the 2024 presidential election.

Against that crowded backdrop, local prosecutor races haven’t received much attention. But there are a slate of prosecutor races today that will give us a glimpse into how Americans feel about crime going into 2024 — and test whether the left can continue its successful campaign of electing progressive district attorneys.

In recent years, several prominent progressives have won local district attorney elections, only to face recall efforts months later. What started with promises of reducing incarceration and abandoning cash bail on the campaign trail turned into debates over violent crime rates and minimum sentences.

Increased homicides brought criminal justice reformer Larry Krasner a tough reelection in Philadelphia soon after becoming district attorney. In San Francisco, Chesa Boudin was recalled last year amid resounding disapproval from voters. Tonight’s elections could put similar left-wing reformers into office — or signal a return to more traditional law-and-order policies.

Here are three places to watch:

ALLEGHENY COUNTY, PA: It’s not every election you see a rematch after a competitive primary, but that’s what’s happening in the Pennsylvania county that includes Pittsburgh. Current District Attorney Stephen Zappala, a Democrat who has been in office for 25 years, lost the primary back in May — but now he’s running as a Republican against Matt Dugan, the reform-oriented, former chief public defender who defeated him for the Democratic nomination.

Zappala has already drawn connections between Dugan’s vision and other cities with higher crime rates, like San Francisco and Los Angeles — both of which elected progressive prosecutors in recent years. Dugan argues Zappala is out of touch with his party and has outdated views on criminal justice.

BROOME COUNTY, NY: Progressive Democrat Matt Ryan and Republican Paul Battisti are on the ballot for district attorney tonight in Binghampton’s Broome County. Both have backgrounds as defense attorneys.

Ryan, a former public defender, has called for addressing the root causes of crime, rather than just prosecuting offenders. Battisti takes a more traditional tack — he defeated the current District Attorney Michael Korchak in the GOP primary with promises to be tougher on crime.

“There is no debate that our families are less safe; crime rates are up, criminal cases aren’t being effectively prosecuted, families feel less safe and fentanyl is killing our young people. It has to stop,” Battisti says in a statement on his website. “We need to get back to law and order to make our streets safe again.”

Ryan, the former Binghamton mayor from 2006 to 2013, is preaching the opposite message. “Broome is worse off after decades of lock ‘em up,” Ryan writes on his website.

Now, voters will decide between a reformer running what Ryan calls “an end to lock ‘em up and let ‘em fail” and Battisti’s strong opposition to defunding the police and bail reform.

HENRICO, LOUDOUN, PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTIES, VA: In Virginia, three suburban Democratic prosecutors associated with criminal justice reform efforts are pitted against GOP challengers calling for a more aggressive stance on crime.

Challengers to the three prosecutors are tying the policies of the current Commonwealth Attorneys to rising crime in the counties. In suburban Richmond’s Henrico County, it’s the battle of the Shannons, as veteran Commonwealth’s Attorney Shannon Taylor faces Shannon Dillon, who is calling for a stronger relationship between the prosecutor’s office and law enforcement to address crime.

“I think if you send a message to the surrounding localities that in Henrico County we prosecute you, and we hold you to the highest standards, I think you will see people stop wanting to be in Henrico County and committing offenses,” Dillon told a local paper.

Buta Biberaj, who faced a tough primary earlier in the year, is running against former Loudoun County Commonwealth’s Attorney Bob Anderson to keep her post. Biberaj’s office became entangled in the national culture wars after recent sexual assault cases in the Loudoun County schools. Gov. Glenn Youngkin pardoned the father of one victim after an altercation at a school board meeting, leading Biberaj to call the pardon a “political stunt.” Anderson, who served from 1996 to 2003, has called Biberaj’s office “broken” and “non-functioning.”

In neighboring Prince William County, Commonwealth Attorney Amy Ashworth faces Republican Matt Lowery, a local attorney who attributes rising crime in the county to Ashworth’s policies and claims Ashworth’s office is failing to prosecute violent offenders.

Welcome to POLITICO Nightly. Reach out with news, tips and ideas at nightly@politico.com. Or contact tonight’s author at mmcarthy@politico.com or on X (formerly known as Twitter) at @Reporter_Mia.

JOIN US ON 11/15 FOR A TALK ON OUR SUSTAINABLE FUTURE: As the sustainability movement heats up, so have calls for a national standard for clean fuel. Join POLITICO on Nov. 15 in Washington D.C. as we convene leading officials from the administration, key congressional committees, states and other stakeholders to explore the role of EVs, biofuels, hydrogen and other options in the clean fuel sector and how evolving consumer behaviors are influencing sustainable energy practices. REGISTER HERE.

— Senate confirms Monica Bertagnolli as NIH director: The Senate confirmed Dr. Monica Bertagnolli to lead the National Institutes of Health in a 62-36 vote today. Nearly every Democrat joined 13 Republicans in filling the post responsible for overseeing billions in federal research grants, but vacant since Dr. Francis Collins left nearly two years ago. While Bertagnolli won confirmation with ease, her road there was rocky. After President Joe Biden tapped her to lead NIH in May, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) held up her nomination for months in an effort to extract a comprehensive plan to lower drug prices from the White House. He and Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman were the only members of the Democratic caucus to vote against confirmation.

— ‘I want to get this over with,’ Tuberville says of resolving military blockade: Sen. Tommy Tuberville acknowledged today that there’s urgency to resolving his blockade that’s left more than 400 military promotions in limbo in protest of the Pentagon’s abortion travel policy. In contrast to previous hardline statements, the Alabama Republican signaled a rare openness to ending the impasse ahead of a closed-door meeting with fellow GOP senators today. But Tuberville, who has long said the Pentagon must undo its policy before he drops his hold, indicated that he’d need a concession of some kind as part of an off-ramp.

— Court looks poised to uphold ban on guns for accused domestic abusers: The Supreme Court appears likely to uphold a federal ban on alleged domestic abusers possessing firearms, as several conservative justices signaled reluctance today to adopt an extreme version of the court’s history-focused approach to gun-rights cases. During a 90-minute oral argument, the justices expressed skepticism that the “history” and “tradition” of gun regulations at the time of the nation’s founding require that the modern statute on domestic violence be declared unconstitutional.

AX: I DIDN’T SAY ‘DROP OUT’ — Less than a day after he suggested that Joe Biden should consider dropping out of the 2024 race, David Axelrod insisted in an interview that he was not calling on the president to suspend his campaign, POLITICO reports.

“It’s overreacting to say I told him to drop out,” said the political architect of former President Barack Obama’s victories. “I didn’t do that.”

“He’s the only one to make the decision. And if his decision is ‘no, I’m the best person to take this on,’ then he will,” Axelrod added.

Axelrod’s comments came shortly after he issued a viral tweet on a New York Times/Siena College poll that showed Biden down by four to 10 points in key battleground states. In it, the longtime Obama hand said, “Only @JoeBiden can make this decision. If he continues to run, he will be the nominee of the Democratic Party. What he needs to decide is whether that is wise; whether it’s in HIS best interest or the country’s?”

HIALEAH HERO — In this low-rise suburban sprawl of modest homes, Spanish-signed strip malls and industrial warehouses near Miami, the working-class heart of Florida’s Cuban-American exile community beats a hue of Republican red unseen anywhere else in the United States.

Hialeah is 96% Hispanic. It has voted GOP by margins exceeding 50 points. And it’s Donald Trump country, reports the Messenger.

It’s why the former president is holding one of the biggest rallies of his campaign here Wednesday, counterprogramming the GOP presidential debate in Miami and sending a message to Gov. Ron DeSantis: Trump’s the clear favorite of blue-collar Hispanic voters in Florida, just as he is of Anglo conservatives in Iowa or New Hampshire.

Here, Trump flags flap from so many homes that they vie in number with Old Glory and front-yard statues of Catholic saints. Candidates in today’s city races featured Trump — not DeSantis — in their political mailers. In political chatter outside restaurants’ ventanita Cuban coffee windows, it’s not uncommon to hear Trump nicknamed “el pingúo” (slang for a virile alpha male); vendors even sell red MAGA-style red hats attesting to it.

LEVERAGING REYNOLDS — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis ’ senior advisers are outlining a difficult path to the Republican presidential nomination that can succeed only by first denying former President Donald Trump “a big win” in Iowa, where the DeSantis campaign is promising to leverage the “vast statewide political operation” of his newest major endorser, Gov. Kim Reynolds, the Associated Press reports.

The memo, distributed late Monday to the campaign’s national donor network and to another group of uncommitted billionaires known as the American Opportunity Alliance, argues that other Republican candidates, including former United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley, are at best spoilers.

Instead of cementing his place as Trump’s chief rival as many expected when he entered the race, DeSantis is locked in a distant second place in Iowa with Haley, who is gaining more interest from donors and voters heading into Wednesday’s third GOP debate. The memo, shared with The Associated Press, pointed to Reynolds’ surprise endorsement — a rarity for sitting Iowa governors before the caucuses — as proof that DeSantis could cut into Trump’s margins.

Portuguese Prime Minister and Socialist party leader, António Costa, at a press conference on Oct. 8, 2019. | Patricia de Melo Moreira/AFP via Getty Images

DOWN AND OUT — Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa submitted his resignation today after police raided his official residence and the country’s attorney general confirmed he was being investigated under a corruption probe, reports POLITICO EU.

During a televised news conference, Costa said he was “surprised” to learn that “a criminal case has already been or will be initiated against me,” and insisted he’d had nothing to do with any “illicit or reprehensible act.”

Costa said the gravity of the charges driving his investigation are “incompatible with the dignity of the office of prime minister,” making it impossible for him to continue in the post.

Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa will now have to decide whether to dissolve parliament and call new elections, or choose a new prime minister from Costa’s Socialist Party.

The office of the presidency confirmed that party leaders will be summoned to meet Wednesday, with the Council of State, an advisory body to the president, expected to meet Thursday.

GET READY FOR POLITICO’S DEFENSE SUMMIT ON 11/14: Russia’s war on Ukraine … China’s threats to Taiwan … a war in Gaza. The U.S. is under increasing pressure to deter, defend and fight in more ways — but not everyone agrees how. Join POLITICO's 3rd Annual Defense Summit on November 14 for exclusive interviews and expert discussions on global security and the U.S.'s race to bolster alliances and stay ahead of adversaries. Explore critical topics, including international conflicts, advanced technology, spending priorities and political dynamics shaping global defense strategies. Don’t miss these timely and important discussions. REGISTER HERE.

TWILIGHT OF THE SOCIAL MEDIA APPS — The promise of social media was that it would lead to an era of instantaneous and constant communication — a way to stay in touch with a vast array of friends, all at once. But now, as apps like Facebook, Instagram and X (formerly known as Twitter) are used largely in different ways, we’re in the twilight of social media apps functioning as community building tools. TikTok has goals much different from its predecessors. And being unable to scroll through any feed to get updates is a strange feeling for a generation of millennials who came of age during and in many ways defined a golden age of a certain kind of social media. Jason Parham writes for WIRED on how this happened and what it means.

On this date in 1973: Secretary of State Henry Kissinger shakes hands with Egypt's President Anwar Sadat at Tahira Palace in Cairo during their meeting on a crisis in the Middle East. Kissinger and Sadat agreed to a normalization of relations between Egypt and the United States. | AP

Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here.

Follow us on Twitter

Charlie Mahtesian @PoliticoCharlie Calder McHugh @calder_mchugh

Follow us

To change your alert settings, please log in at https://www.politico.com/_login?base=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.politico.com/settings

This email was sent to by: POLITICO, LLC 1000 Wilson Blvd. Arlington, VA, 22209, USA

Please click here and follow the steps to .