Spanberger Voted to Protect Radical DC Crime Bill Even Biden Opposed

In 2022, Washington, D.C., passed a new crime bill so radical that even dozens of Democrats in the U.S. House and Senate voted to strike it down, and President Joe Biden agreed—but Abigail Spanberger, now the Democrat nominee for Virginia governor, voted to defend it.

“If you want to know how much Abigail Spanberger will value Virginians’ safety, look at her record: she backed reducing penalties for violent crime in D.C.—a bill so extreme even radical liberal Joe Biden rejected it,” Peyton Vogel, press secretary for Spanberger’s Republican opponent, Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, told The Daily Signal in a statement Tuesday. “Virginians know exactly what ‘safety’ would look like under Spanberger: none at all.”

The Revised Criminal Code Act of 2021, which the D.C. Council unanimously passed in November 2022, would have rewritten the entire D.C. code, eliminating all mandatory minimum sentences except for first-degree murder and reducing the maximum sentences for many violent crimes. Critics focused on the lax approach to carjacking, in particular. While Mayor Muriel Bowser vetoed the bill, the council overrode her veto.

Bipartisan Opposition

In February 2023, the House voted to pass a resolution striking down the bill, 250-173. Thirty-one Democrats joined the Republican majority to oppose it. The Senate vote proved even more lopsided: 81-14. Thirty-one Democrats joined Republicans in voting against it, as did two Independents who caucus with Democrats. Virginia Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner, both Democrats, voted to kill the bill.

Even Biden—who would go on to issue thousands of prison commutations after encouraging federal prisoners to ask for clemency—opposed the bill, signing into law the congressional resolution against it.

“I support D.C. Statehood and home-rule—but I don’t support some of the changes D.C. Council put forward over the Mayor’s objections—such as lowering penalties for carjackings,” the president posted on Twitter. “If the Senate votes to overturn what D.C. Council did—I’ll sign it.”

Spanberger, however, voted the other way.

Spanberger’s Rationale

Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares, a Republican, condemned the bill as “one of the most extreme criminal-first, victim-last measures we’ve seen across the nation.” He said legislation like this “has led to a crime explosion and tragically an explosion of more victims,” and warned that D.C. crime spills over into the northern parts of Virginia.

Spanberger’s office laid out a justification for the congresswoman’s vote in responding to Miyares.

“Rep. Spanberger also believes there is a high bar for elected officials from Virginia or any other state to intervene in Washington, D.C.’s local affairs, and as D.C.’s local code change would have increased maximum penalties for horrific crimes like attempted sexual assault, attempted murder, and assaulting a police officer, Rep. Spanberger did not vote to interfere,” a spokesperson told the ABC News affiliate 7News in a statement.

Zack Smith, a senior legal fellow at The Heritage Foundation, called Spanberger’s response “disingenuous.”

“Even if the maximum sentences were going to be increased, under the sentencing guidelines and the sentencing practices of the local D.C. judges, it would be basically impossible to get the maximum sentence for most crimes,” he told The Daily Signal.

As for local control in D.C., Smith noted that it’s an “anomaly.”

“The Constitution is clear that Congress has the final say, has final authority over what happens in the District of Columbia and the home rule system that’s set up now is a relatively recent invention of the 1970s,” he explained. Congress has often exercised more direct rule, as the Founders envisioned when they set up a federal district to protect the safety of Congress.

As for the D.C. crime bill, Smith noted that “other Democrats said this was too far. Joe Biden said this was too far, and Joe Biden pardoned how many criminals at the end of his term?”

“So, if Joe Biden is saying this is too radical, that should really send a message,” he added.

Police Support for Spanberger

Spanberger’s campaign did not respond to The Daily Signal’s request for comment, but it has touted law enforcement support.

The national Fraternal Order of Police presented her with an award for her leadership on the Social Security Fairness Act, which secured benefits for Virginia’s retired police officers, among others. The Virginia Police Benevolent Association endorsed her campaign in August.

Yet the Virginia Fraternal Order of Police and the association both called on Jay Jones, the Democrat candidate for attorney general, to step down after Jones admitted to fantasizing about shooting his political opponent. When asked about his wish that the children of his political opponent would die, he said, “Only when people feel pain personally do they move on policy.”

Jones said he regrets the messages and has apologized for them, but he has not dropped out of the race. Spanberger has condemned the remarks but has not called for Jones to drop out.

Neither the Fraternal Order of Police nor the Virginia Police Benevolent Association responded to The Daily Signal’s request for comment about Spanberger’s support for the D.C. crime bill.

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