"The kind of old school thinking is that it's only police that can keep communities safe. And what we're seeing out in the field more and more is that community-based organizations work as a complement to law enforcement." -Amy Solomon of @counciloncj.org

A look at this year’s mayoral races reveals a new path forward for the Democratic party to not only inoculate against the GOP's crime attacks, but also go on offense and turn the debate to safety, accountability, and justice.

Read our Five Takeaways:

In Boston, incumbent Mayor Michelle Wu easily beat her well-funded primary challenger and defied conventional political wisdom by winning the police union endorsement, despite being a progressive and calling for greater police accountability. (6/7)

In New York, Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani was able to successfully inoculate against millions of dollars invested in “soft-on-crime” attacks and change the terms of the crime debate by proposing a Department of Community Safety—a new solution to an old problem. (5/7)

Want to know how to tackle crime as a Democrat? Just look at mayors’ races.

In Detroit, Cleveland, New York, and other cities, candidates who owned a proactive safety agenda won handily.

Watch this ad from Mayor-elect Mary Sheffield’s campaign in Detroit (4/7):

The new paradigm on safety includes new solutions to prevent crime, respond to crisis, and stop violence.

There is a majority view among voters about what works to break the cycle of crime. A "serious about safety" approach consistently beats a "tough-on-crime" one. (3/7)

As the Republican advantage on the economy evaporates and after convincing wins by Democrats last week, the GOP will likely use crime as a wedge issue to blunt Democrats’ momentum in the midterms.

Trump has already declared that "crime will be a big subject of the midterms." (2/7)

Voters don’t want the National Guard in their community; they want leaders to address crime at the local level.

As mayors and governors respond to Trump’s federal intervention, they should reject "tough on crime" political theater and focus on real solutions for safety.

Also, ~6 in 10 oppose using National Guard or military troops to combat urban crime.

Key takeaway: the door is wide open for Democrats to own real solutions that address the roots causes of crime and deliver real safety, while opposing Trump's "tough on crime" antics.

"Cuomo knows better . . . He rightfully defended the reforms that would prevent people from dying due to incarceration at Rikers Island like bail reform [and] closing the jail complex, so it’s a real shame that he’s straying from what he knows is right." -Alana Sivin of Vera Action

In April, Trump’s Department of Justice terminated roughly $820 million in grants to organizations across 37 states doing life-saving work to make communities safer.

The next mayor has a legal mandate to close Rikers as quickly as possible. Backtracking won’t make New York any safer or more affordable.

For more on closing Rikers and other imperatives for New York's next mayor, here's a resource from @vera.org:

This plan is an effort by Cuomo to boost his mayoral campaign—but he is seriously missing the mark.

Voters don’t want new buildings on Rikers Island. In fact, Vera Action research shows that New York voters favor the transition to borough-based jails.

Cuomo’s policy also wouldn’t address one of the core issues with Rikers: its remote location. Keeping incarcerated people out of sight and out of mind, far away from their families, courts, legal services, and supports feeds the crisis in NYC jails.

Rikers is beyond reform. Twelve people have died in city jails this year alone. In May, a federal judge had to appoint outside oversight.

The culture of abuse won’t change with new buildings on the island. Rikers needs to be closed for good.