Democrats Lead Six of the 10 Safest States

Democrats were leading in office in six of the 10 safest states, according to a new report from Consumer Affairs.
Crime levels depend on many factors, including population sizes, local government ordinances and policies. While the conventional wisdom is that Republicans are tougher on crime, the report revealed Democrats ran the majority of the safest states.
The safest states were as follows, according to the report:
The report looked at several factors, including violent crime, property crime, driving safety, public safety and climate safety.
In New Hampshire, led by Republican Governor Chris Sununu, property crime and burglaries were among the lowest in the country. Maine ranked high due to its lowest violent crime among the 50 states.
Violent crime, including gun ownership, could have played a significant role in whether a state was rated safe, and that often correlated with Republican or Democratic majorities, Paul Beck, a professor emeritus of political science at The Ohio State University, told Newsweek.
“With federal Second Amendment protections of gun rights, not much difference among states in gun restrictions, though Republican states surely have more supportive gun cultures and higher gun ownership,” Beck said.
New Jersey, led by Democratic Governor Phil Murphy, was notable for having the lowest crime rate in the study, at just 16.8 incidents per 100,000 residents. That was significantly lower than the national average of 40 per 100,000 residents. The state also had the second-highest law enforcement presence, with 424 officers per 100,000 residents.
Meanwhile, Rhode Island seized a top spot in part for its driving statistics.
The state, led by Democratic Governor Daniel McKee, had the lowest rate of fatalities involving aggressive or careless driving, at just 1.3 per 100,000 residents. The homicide rate was also the lowest for the study, at 1.5 per 100,000 residents. The national average was 6.3.
Altogether, the Northeast saw some of the safest states, taking eight of the top 10 spots.
“It is interesting to see that the top five safest states in our ranking are blue and located in the northeast,” a spokesperson for Consumer Affairs told Newsweek. “However, it’s important to note that our study doesn’t establish a direct correlation between political affiliation and safety. What stands out in the data is that all of the top five states have low property crime rates, which significantly boosts their overall safety scores.”
Americans are increasingly concerned about crime in their neighborhoods and across the country. According to the Pew Research Center, roughly 58 percent of adults believe lowering crime should be a top priority for the president and Congress, a 10 percent increase from when President Joe Biden entered office.
Regarding the least safe states, New Mexico, Louisiana, Colorado and Arkansas led the pack, along with Washington, D.C.
New Mexico was the worst for driving safety and ranked third worst for both violent crime and property crime.
“The bottom five states in our ranking struggle with higher rates of violent and property crime. Interestingly, Colorado and New Mexico, both blue states, are among the least safe, which shows that there are many factors at play beyond political alignment,” a Consumer Affairs spokesperson said.