Almost All of America’s Failed Cities are Democrat Cities - John Perazzo

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by John Perazzo

That includes 42 of the top 43 centers of violent crime.

 
As Marxist and anarchist radicals continue to turn Democrat-run American cities into war zones, Democrats assure us that they alone understand how the current crisis can be resolved. White House hopeful Joe Biden, for example, vows that “as President,” he “will help lead” a national “conversation” about racial justice, “and more importantly,” he “will listen” to the “anguish” of the long-forgotten “little guy.”[1]
Biden’s “little guy” narrative blends seamlessly with one of the most widely accepted claims in American political discourse today: the notion that the Democratic Party is the party that fights on behalf of the common man. We are told that Democrats in public office advocate for a wide range of policies that would improve the lives of the poorest and most powerless among us.
With regard to crime, for instance, the Democratic Party Platform declares that we need to: end the “mass incarceration” that allegedly targets nonwhite minorities; “invest more in jobs and education” than in jails; eliminate mandatory minimum sentences; “close private prisons and detention centers”; “eliminat[e] the use of cash bail” because “no one should be imprisoned merely for failing to pay fines or fees”; and “abolish the death penalty, which has proven to be a cruel and unusual form of punishment.”[2]

Regarding economic matters, the official Democratic Party Platform explicitly pledges to promote “shared prosperity” by: “rais[ing] wages for working people,” “ending poverty” in “underserved communities,” and implementing “a comprehensive agenda to invest in America’s cities.”[3]

But in city after city where Democrats already have been in charge politically for an extended period of time, we find exceedingly high—indeed, often colossal—levels of crime and poverty that degrade the quality of life for the people who reside there. And the longer Democrats have dominated the politics of those cities, the worse the conditions tend to be. In short, Democrats have transformed a host of once-great metropolises into urban prisons where the “little guy”—particularly the black and Hispanic “little guy” on whose behalf Democrats typically claim to speak—has been grievously harmed by one destructive Democratic policy after another.

The Most Dangerous Cities in America

Let us first examine the political leadership of the most dangerous American cities, large and small alike. “Danger,” for purposes of this analysis, is defined in terms of the number of violent crimes committed per 1,000 residents. Four categories of violent crime are included in these calculations: homicide, rape, armed robbery, and aggravated assault. The statistics regarding the incidence of each of these crimes in each city were derived from FBI records and were published in 2019 by the custom analytics website NeighborhoodScout.com.[4]

The following chart shows the 50 cities that have the highest violent crime rates in the United States and: (a) have a population of 25,000 or more; (b) are governed by mayors who are clearly identifiable as either Democrats or Republicans;[5] and (c) have either a “Mayor-Council” (MC) form of government, a “Council-Manager” (CM) form of government, or a Hybrid (HYB) of the two.[6]  Of those 50 cities, 46 are governed by Democratic mayors and administrations; only 4 are governed by Republicans. Moreover, 42 of the top 43 are governed by Democrats.
 

Rank	Cities with Populations of 25,000+	Population[7]	Type of Govt.	Violent Crimes/ 1,000	Mayor’s Party
1	Detroit, MI	672,829	MC	20.0	Democratic
2	Memphis, TN	652,752	MC	19.5	Democratic
3	Birmingham, AL	209,403	MC	19.3	Democratic
4	Baltimore, MD	614,664	MC	18.5	Democratic
5	Flint, MI	97,379	MC	18.3	Democratic
6	St. Louis, MO	318,416	MC	18.2	Democratic
7	Wilmington, DE	71,455	MC	16.3	Democratic
8	Camden, NJ	74,417	MC	16.2	Democratic
9	Pine Bluff, AR	42,984	MC	16.0	Democratic
10	Kansas City, MO	481,360	CM	15.9	Democratic
11	S. Bernardino, CA	HYB	MC	15.3	Democratic
12	Alexandria, LA	47,334	MC	14.6	Democratic
13	Little Rock, AR	198,546	CM	14.6	Democratic
14	Cleveland, OH	385,810	MC	14.5	Democratic
15	Milwaukee, WI	595,070	MC	14.3	Democratic
16	Stockton, CA	307,057	CM	14.2	Democratic
17	Monroe, LA	49,761	MC	14.1	Democratic
18	Chester, PA	34,133	MC	14.0	Democratic
19	Rockford, IL	147,404	MC	14.0	Democratic
20	Albuquerque, NM	559,270	MC	13.7	Democratic
21	Pontiac, MI	59,792	MC	13.4	Democratic
22	Kalamazoo, MI	75,988	CM	13.3	Democratic
23	Anchorage, AK	298,192	HYB	13.1	Democratic
24	Oakland, CA	419,987	HYB	12.9	Democratic
25	Indianapolis, IN	852,506	MC	12.9	Democratic
26	East Point, GA	35,282	MC	12.8	Democratic
27	Compton, CA	97,537	CM	12.1	Democratic
28	Battle Creek, MI	52,347	CM	12.0	Republican
29	East St. Louis, IL	26,662	CM	12.0	Democratic
30	Canton, OH	71,329	MC	11.9	Democratic[8]
31	Elkhart, IN	52,348	MC	11.9	Democratic
32	Newburgh, NY	28,363	CM	11.9	Democratic
33	Riviera Beach, FL	34,674	MC	11.8	Democratic
34	Wichita, KS	389,938	CM	11.8	Democratic
35	Jackson, MI	32,704	CM	11.8	Democratic
36	New Orleans, LA	391,495	MC	11.8	Democratic
37	Trenton, NJ	84,065	MC	11.8	Democratic
38	Jacksonville, AR	28,235	MC	11.7	Democratic
39	Nashville, TN	688,901	MC	11.5	Democratic
40	Lansing, MI	117,400	MC	11.1	Democratic[9]
41	Daytona B., FL	66,649	MC	11.1	Democratic
42	Albany, GA	74,904	MC	10.9	Democratic
43	Harrisburg, PA	49,192	MC	10.8	Democratic
44	Tulsa, OK	401,190	MC	10.7	Republican
45	Beaumont, TX	116,825	CM	10.7	Republican
46	Hartford, CT	123,287	MC	10.7	Democratic
47	Desert Hot Sp, CA	28,878	MC	10.7	Republican
48	Buffalo, NY	255,284	MC	10.6	Democratic
49	Gadsden, AL	35,000	MC	10.5	Democratic
50	Chattanooga, TN	182,799	MC	10.5	Democratic

The Cities with the Highest Poverty Rates

Now let us turn our attention to the political leadership of the large U.S. cities with the highest poverty rates in the nation. These are cities that: (a) have populations of at least 200,000; (b) are governed by mayors who are clearly identifiable as either Democrats or Republicans; and (c) have either a “Mayor-Council” (MC) form of government, a “Council-Manager” (CM) form of government, or a Hybrid (HYB) of the two.[10] Of the 50 cities in this list, 41 have Democratic mayors, and just 9 have Republican mayors.[11]
 

Rank	City & State	Type of Govt.	Poverty Rate	Mayor’s Party
1	Detroit, MI	MC	36.4%	Democratic
2	Cleveland, OH	MC	34.6%	Democratic
3	Buffalo, NY	MC	30.3%	Democratic
4	San Bernardino, CA	HYB	28.4%	Democratic
5	Newark, NJ	MC	28.0%	Democratic
6	Cincinnati, OH	HYB	27.2%	Democratic
7	Fresno, CA	HYB	26.9%	Republican
8	Memphis, TN	MC	26.8%	Democratic
9	Milwaukee, WI	MC	26.6%	Democratic
10	Toledo, OH	MC	25.6%	Democratic
11	Baton Rouge, LA	MC	25.2%	Democratic
12	Philadelphia, PA	MC	24.9%	Democratic
13	New Orleans, LA	MC	24.6%	Democratic
14	Richmond, VA	MC	24.5%	Democratic
15	Miami, FL	HYB	24.3%	Republican
16	St. Louis, MO	MC	24.2%	Democratic
17	Hialeah, FL	MC	23.7%	Republican
18	Tucson, AZ	CM	23.4%	Democratic
19	Baltimore, MD	MC	21.8%	Democratic
20	Atlanta, GA	MC	21.6%	Democratic
21	Pittsburgh, PA	MC	21.4%	Democratic
22	Houston, TX	MC	20.6%	Democratic
23	Dallas, TX	CM	20.5%	Democratic
24	Stockton, CA	CM	20.5%	Democratic
25	Columbus, OH	MC	20.4%	Democratic
26	Boston, MA	MC	20.2%	Democratic
27	Lubbock, TX	CM	20.2%	Republican
28	El Paso, TX	CM	20.0%	Republican
29	Minneapolis, MN	MC	19.9%	Democratic
30	St. Paul, MN	MC	19.9%	Democratic
31	Norfolk, VA	CM	19.7%	Democratic
32	Tulsa, OK	MC	19.7%	Republican
33	Chicago, IL	MC	19.5%	Democratic
34	Tampa, FL	MC	19.5%	Democratic
35	Phoenix, AZ	CM	19.4%	Democratic
36	Los Angeles, CA	MC	19.1%	Democratic
37	New York, NY	MC	18.9%	Democratic
38	Glendale, AZ	CM	18.6%	Republican
39	San Antonio, TX	CM	18.6%	Democratic
40	Bakersfield, CA	CM	18.5%	Republican
41	Greensboro, NC	CM	18.5%	Democratic
42	Jersey City, NJ	MC	18.3%	Democratic
43	Sacramento, CA	CM	18.3%	Democratic
44	Spokane, WA	MC	18.3%	Republican
45	Orlando, FL	MC	18.2%	Democratic
46	Long Beach, CA	CM	18.1%	Democratic
47	Madison, WI	MC	17.9%	Democratic
48	Santa Ana, CA	CM	17.7%	Democratic
49	Albuquerque, NM	MC	17.6%	Democratic
50	Oakland, CA	HYB	17.6%	Democratic

It should be noted that many of the cities in the foregoing charts have been governed by Democrats not just for a short time, but for many years, or even decades, on end. To cite just a few examples: St. Louis has been led exclusively and continuously by Democrats for the past 71 years; Detroit, 58 years; Baltimore, 53 years; Kansas City, 29 years; Wilmington, 47 years; Cleveland, 30 years; Harrisburg, 38 years; Houston, 38 years; Minneapolis, 42 years; Chicago, 89 years; and Milwaukee, 60 years.
Conclusion
The facts are crystal clear, and they are stunning. For decade upon decade, the Democratic Party has fed mountains of rhetoric to its many reliable voting blocs in scores of U.S. cities, assuring them of its deep and abiding concern for the lives of ordinary Americans. Yet it has delivered absolutely nothing in terms of measurable improvements to those lives. Instead, the Party has gradually transformed itself into a political wrecking ball whose only tangible achievement in urban America has been to perpetuate obscene levels of poverty, crime, and human misery. It is a shocking record of wretched failure that can be neither ignored nor wished away.
Why on earth would anyone believe that entrusting Democrats with the reins of governmental power on a national level, as opposed to a city level, would lead to a better result?

It is time for serious-minded individuals who may have long supported the Democratic Party for reasons they deemed worthy and honorable, to finally recognize that their party has failed and betrayed them so consistently and so monstrously, that they now have a moral imperative to walk away from it.

* * *
Photo credit: Jared Tarbell

Notes:

[1] https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/i-will-listen-joe-biden-visits-site-of-george-floyd-protests-in-delaware;
https://twitter.com/joebiden/status/1293280411150217219?lang=en
[2] Democratic Party Platform, 2020 and 2016.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Dr. Andrew Schiller, “NeighborhoodScout’s Most Dangerous Cities – 2020” (NeighborhoodScout.com, 1-2-2020); “How We Rank the 100 Most Dangerous Cities List” (NeighborhoodScout.com, 2-2-2019).
[5] Any cities on NeighborhoodScout’s “Most Dangerous” list that are currently led by mayors who identify politically as “Independent,” “Nonpartisan,” “Bipartisan,” or “Other”—rather than as either “Democratic” or “Republican”—are not included on our list. Seven cities have been excluded for this reason. They are: Danville, IL; Saginaw, MI; Myrtle Beach, SC; Shawnee, OK; Farmington, NM; Springfield, MO; and Scranton, PA.    
[6] As Ballotpedia.org explains, “Mayor-Council” governments can be either “Strong Mayor-Council,” where the mayor is the chief executive with expansive powers, or “Weak Mayor-Council,” where the executive authority of the mayor is less expansive. Conversely, in a “Council-Manager” form of government the mayor is a regular voting member of the city council, which in turn appoints a city manager to oversee day-to-day municipal operations, draft a budget, and implement the council's policies. Still, the mayor in such a system is a major player, responsible for such tasks as presiding at council meetings, serving as a spokesperson for the community, helping elected and appointed officials work together cohesively, and assisting the council in setting goals and making policy. (See also: https://government.georgetown.org/city-management/council-manager-form-of-government/.)
[7] Population statistics for each city are derived from City-data.com and the U.S. Census Bureau.
[8] Though Thomas Bernabei was elected mayor of Canton in 2015 by running as a nonpartisan, he has been a lifelong Democrat. Thus, he is counted here as a Democrat.
[9] Though Lansing’s city races are officially considered nonpartisan, Mayor Andy Schor is a career Democrat. Thus, he is counted here as a Democrat. See Sarah Lehr, “What Can Lansing Expect from Mayor Andy Schor?” (Lansing Journal, 12-29-2017).  
[10] See Note #6.
[11] https://www.indexmundi.com/facts/united-states/quick-facts/cities/rank/percent-of-people-of-all-ages-in-poverty;
https://ballotpedia.org/Party_affiliation_of_the_mayors_of_the_100_largest_cities

John Perazzo is the author of Betrayal: The Democratic Party’s Destruction of America’s Cities and also of the Freedom Center's new investigative report: BLACK LIVES MATTER: Marxist Hate Dressed Up As Racial Justice.]

Source: https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2020/09/almost-all-americas-failed-cities-are-democrat-john-perazzo/

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