'Defund police' Democrats poised to expand power in party in 2022 midterm elections

Progressives who support defunding the police are poised to make up a greater share of congressional Democrats after this year's midterm elections. 

House Democrats are projected to see their numbers shrink in the midterms, but their most far-left members – like New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez – aren't in any danger of losing their seats, due to the deep blue nature of their districts. 

That fact alone means progressives will likely constitute a larger proportion of the caucus than they do now. But AOC and her allies are also poised to add to their numbers. In several safe blue districts, far-left Democrats have either won their primary or have a good chance of doing so. 

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Texas

Self-described democratic socialist Democrat Greg Casar won his primary for Texas' 35th Congressional District, where longtime Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas, is not running in favor of a newly-drawn congressional district.

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Casar is a former Austin city council member who led the 2020 charge to slash the Austin Police Department’s budget by $100 million. A year later, in 2021, Austin saw a new city-wide murder record with 89 murders and only 51 arrests by December of last year.

Additionally, Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, is headed to a runoff against progressive candidate Jessica Cisneros in Texas' 28th Congressional District. While Cisneros hasn't personally endorsed defunding the police, she has campaigned with Democrats, like Ocasio-Cortez, who have backed the "defund" movement. 

Illinois

The Prairie State is seeing progressive challenger Kina Collins take on longtime Democratic Rep. Danny Davis in a primary challenge for his seat in Illinois' 7th Congressional District. 

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Collins, who is supported by the Ocasio-Cortez-backed Justice Democrats, made headlines last year when it was revealed that she participated in a "Defund the Police" rally.

In fact, Collins was front and center filming a Facebook Live video of a "Defund the Police" rally in July 2020 and marched with protesters chanting to "defund the police" in a separate Facebook Live video the same day.

Collins – a gun violence prevention activist – has also called for the abolition of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), claiming in multiple Facebook posts that "immigrant families are constantly living in a state of fear, and the physical and mental trauma is destroying the fabric of our society."

The Justice Democrats' endorsement will likely be a major boon to Collins as she takes on Davis in a rematch after trailing behind him in the 2020 primary. 

New York

The reach of Justice Democrats – as well as the group’s overall electoral gusto – is also hitting home in Ocasio-Cortez’s native New York.

Democratic Rep. Carolyn Maloney is facing an AOC-backed progressive challenger in New York's 12th Congressional District. 

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Activist Rana Abdelhamid was supported by the Ocasio-Cortez-backed political action committee in her current bid to unseat the congresswoman, who has served since 1993. 

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Similar to the "Squad" members she hopes to join in Congress, Abdelhamid has called for the defunding of police and directed followers to donate to a Minnesota fund that posted bail for alleged rioters and violent criminals.

She also called defunding law enforcement a feminist "priority" on Instagram in a series of self-made graphics.

Maloney has called for police reforms but hasn't gotten on board with defunding law enforcement.