Testimony of Third Way EVP for Policy Jim Kessler before House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime

Third Way Executive Vice President for Policy Jim Kessler testified before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime on September 11, 2024. He pushed back on Republican "soft-on-crime" attacks on Vice President Harris and Governor Walz with data showing that Minnesota and California are much safer than the rest of the country, specifically red states like Louisiana and Mississippi. Harris and Walz have set a good example for how to handle crime—hold criminals accountable and prevent crime before it happens.

Watch the testimony here.

Thank you Chairman Biggs, Ranking member McBath, members of the Committee and fellow panelists. I also want to acknowledge Kylie Murdock, a Third Way policy advisor for her work on this issue.

I have been obsessed with crime since the 1976 All-Star game at Philadelphia’s Veterans Stadium where I was mugged! I’ve also had the privilege of working for a former Chair and ranking member of this Subcommittee. And now I get to testify.

I have to say, however, I am baffled by the topic.

We are here to talk about soft-on-crime policies and have been offered up Minnesota under Gov Tim Walz and California under AG Kamala Harris as object lessons… yet both of these states are safer than the rest of the country.

I didn’t say “safe,” I said “safer.” 40 years ago, I had a gun pressed against my forehead in downtown Boston. 30 years ago, I had a gun leveled at my chest in rural Maine. No place in America is safe.

But today, the murder rate in MN under Tim Walz is 12th lowest in the nation, and it is less than half of the national average. And it is lower than the murder rates of all 11 of the states of members on this Subcommittee.

If America had the same murder rate as MN, since the start of this century there would be 186,000 more Americans alive today. If Arizona had the same murder rate as MN, since the start of the century there would be 5,600 more Arizonans alive. There would be 12,800 more Floridians. 16,600 more Texans. 5,800 more South Carolinians.

California under AG Kamala Harris had a murder rate also below the national average, and a murder rate half that of Red States like Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama. If all of America had the same murder rate as California, from the start of the century there would be 62,000 more Americans alive.

If you look at what has made MN and CA successful relative to the rest of the nation, it is Accountability—holding criminals accountable. And Prevention—investing in efforts to give people a path away from crime.

I’ll touch on 4 areas.

• Police funding: Minnesota ranks 10th in police spending per capita. California is #1. Under AG Harris conviction rates hit a 15 year high. Across the nation, per capita spending on police is 33% higher in Blue States than in Red States. If you’re not funding police and convicting criminals, you’re soft on crime.
• Poverty: There is a strong correlation between poverty rates and crime. If you’re not addressing poverty, you’re soft on crime.
• Prevention programs: Most violent crimes are committed by those between 16 and 25. Many are committed by those on drugs or mentally ill. If you’re not addressing substance abuse, mental health, idle kids—you’re soft on crime.
• And guns: 86% of all murders are by guns. If guns are seen as only a solution to the crime problem and not a cause—if there isn’t a balance between gun rights and gun accountability—you’re soft on crime.

Walz and Harris have successful results on crime because they check the accountability and prevention boxes. Police funding under Walz is up and after the murder of George Floyd, he called for investments in community policing, bucking the defund movement. Police funding under Biden-Harris—both federal law enforcement and local law enforcement aid—is also up.

They each actively addressed poverty—school lunches, child tax credit.

They invested in substance abuse, mental health, after school programs and summer jobs.

And within the confines of the Second Amendment, they each passed gun safety laws.

A word about illegal immigration. It was soft on crime to not pass the bipartisan border security bill, but that’s water under the bridge. Studies show undocumented immigrants commit fewer violent crimes than the general population. I know some of you are skeptical, so here is something irrefutable.

Three states have by far the highest murder rates in America. Each of these states—Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama—have among the lowest number of immigrant residents of any state.* The bulk of America’s crime problem comes from Americans, not migrants.

In 2020, in the last year of the Trump Administration we had an unprecedented 30% spike in murder. By 2022, under Biden-Harris crime and murder rates fell, in 2023 we saw the largest drop in murder in history and that trend is continuing in 2024.

And for each and every year this century—red states in America have had higher murder rates than blue states in America.

I truly believe that elected Republicans believe they are tough on crime, because they talk tough on crime. But the results say otherwise.

Watch the testimony here.

*Mississippi ranks 49th, Alabama ranks 45th, Louisiana ranks 41st in % of population that is foreign born.