There is change in the air. Bernie Sanders didn’t fair well in Tuesday’s primaries but his presence in the race is making a difference. Not just the kind of difference that is keeping Hillary Clinton on the left of center, but the kind that is changing the down ticket races where it really counts. Voters on the left are just as angry as the ones on the right but with a less aggressive tactic.
In Chicago’s Cook County and in Cleveland, Ohio, the voters decided that black lives do matter. They were tired of elected officials not holding police responsible for the killing of unarmed black men and women. So they voted for change.
BOOM! Attorney who bungled Laquan McDonald case loses re-election bid
Sarah K. Burris, Raw Story
After criticism for alleged mishandling the shooting death of Laquan McDonald Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez went down in her election Tuesday night. McDonald was the 17-year-old Chicago boy who was shot 16 times as he walked away from officers with a 3-inch knife. The video footage of his death was withheld while Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel ran for reelection. Alvarez too was seen responsible after waiting 13 months before filing charges against Officer Jason Van Dyke who shot McDonald.
Alvarez was also blamed for declining to file charges against officers who fatally shot a total of 68 people in the last seven years.
Alvarez’s opponent Kim Foxx had nearly 58 percent of the vote to Alvarez’s 29 percent before Alvarez conceded the race at 9 p.m. CDT.
Even though Ms. Foxx has a Republican challenger, in Cook County a win in the Democratic primary is usually the decisive election.
Cleveland prosecutor who cleared cops in Tamir Rice’s death defeated in Dem primary Arturo Garcia, Raw Story
Cuyahoga County District Attorney Tim McGinty lost his bid for re-election on Tuesday night, less than three months after Cleveland activists began calling for him to be voted out for his handling of the case of 12-year-old Tamir Rice’s shooting death at the hands of police.
CleveScene reported that McGinty conceded the Democratic primary race to opponent Mike O’Malley around midnight local time.
McGinty became the subject of protests around the area for clearing Officers Frank Garmback and Timothy Loehmann in Rice’s death. [..]
O’Malley amassed the support of 55 percent of voters compared to 44 percent for McGinty with 95 percent of precincts reporting. Since there are no Republican or independent candidates for the position, the result means O’Malley has won the position outright.
This is how voters make real change, pushing out the bums at the bottom sends a message to the top tier candidates that they will not be ignored.