Months before the 2026 midterm elections, Democratic candidates across the country are distancing themselves from past support for defunding the police, a position that gained prominence following George Floyd’s death in 2020. From Wisconsin to Michigan to New York, Democratic hopefuls are either reversing previous statements or quietly deleting old social media posts as they seek to convince voters that their party can be trusted on public safety.
In Wisconsin’s gubernatorial primary, State Rep. Francesca Hong, a democratic socialist who had previously called to “defund then abolish” the police, softened her stance during a televised debate on July 28, 2026. “The governor cannot defund the police and I’m not here to govern by slogan,” Hong said, directly contradicting her 2020 social media posts in which she wrote that “Police exist to uphold white supremacy” and called to “Defund then abolish.”
Democratic leaders fear that lingering associations with the defunding movement will undermine their campaign message heading into the midterms. According to the Associated Press, Democratic leaders worry that “outlier opinions favoring police defunding may again tarnish the party’s brand and sink its chances of gaining ground in Congress, governor’s mansions and statehouses nationwide.”
The political liability extends beyond Wisconsin. In Michigan, Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, a progressive public health researcher, faced questions about his past support for defunding police. CNN reported in November that El-Sayed had deleted scores of social media posts expressing that support, and he now says he rejects the idea entirely. Similarly, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has tried to distance himself from his 2020 social media posts describing the NYPD as “racist, anti-queer & a major threat to public safety” and calling to “Defund this rogue agency.” Mamdani has since apologized for the language and retained the city’s police commissioner, a decision that angered some of his progressive allies.
The reversal reflects how dramatically the political terrain has shifted since 2020. Democratic strategist Antjuan Seawright told the AP that the defunding debate “was a serious debate in 2020 that arguably cost us some seats that year and caused us to lose on something where we should have had the upper ground, because a few members of our party wanted to have a stylistic debate rather than one on substance.”
The Party’s Platform Shift
The Democratic Party’s official stance on policing has undergone a complete reversal. The 2024 Democratic Party platform contains no mention of police brutality—a stark change from earlier years. Instead, the text explicitly states: “We need to fund the police, not defund the police.” This language reflects a deliberate effort by party leadership to move away from the rhetoric that dominated progressive circles in 2020 and early 2021.
The shift was not immediate. In February 2022, as moderate Democrats blamed progressive rhetoric for losses in swing districts, party leaders began publicly distancing themselves from the slogan. Democratic Congressman Cedric Richmond said that slogans such as “defund the police” ultimately hurt the party in the 2020 elections. Yet for candidates with records of supporting the movement—like Hong, El-Sayed, and Mamdani—the backtracking has proven difficult, as their past statements continue to resurface.
The stakes are high as Republicans prepare to make warnings about crime, immigration, and what they call “democratic socialism” central to their closing midterm message. Democratic leaders must navigate between holding their base while convincing independent and moderate voters that they can deliver on public safety—a challenge made harder by candidates’ own past positions.
Sources
- Associated Press — Democratic candidates’ reversals on defunding police, Francesca Hong’s debate statement, and Democratic strategist commentary (July 31, 2026)
- CNN — Abdul El-Sayed’s deleted social media posts on police defunding (reported November 2025)
- Time — 2024 Democratic Party platform language on police funding (August 24, 2024)
- UCSB Presidency Project — Full text of 2024 Democratic Party platform (August 19, 2024)
- NBC News — Francesca Hong’s recalibration of democratic socialist message (August 7, 2026)
- CBS News — Cedric Richmond’s statement on “defund the police” costing Democrats seats (November 8, 2020)
