Utah politicos are fighting over San Francisco crime
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Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios
If you've noticed a lot of social media fights over San Francisco in recent days — it's not a sports thing.
What happened: Gov. Spencer Cox ignited a firestorm last week when he blamed "progressive candidates and policies" for a Utah company closing its San Francisco storefront due to crime there.
- In a LinkedIn post last week, the CEO of the Utah-based outdoor gear merchant Cotopaxi, announced the San Francisco store was closing due to vandalism and theft.
- He also repeatedly shared a prominent article in which a San Francisco writer for The Atlantic declares her hometown to be a "failed city."
- The argument continued for days as some Utahns defended the Golden Gate City and other Utah elected officials weighed in.
Why it matters: San Francisco's rising property crime rate has been a popular right-wing talking point as the city recently recalled progressive district attorney Chesa Boudin.
- Cox's criticism rankled some Utahns, who called it divisive and snide — a contradiction of the image Cox has nurtured nationally as a compassionate moderate.
- It also led to a debate over statistical claims as to what policies actually correlate with rising crime.
The other side: Cox's critics pointed to San Francisco's longtime unaffordability as the main driver of crime there, not progressive policies.
- Others noted homelessness and poverty also exist in conservative states like Utah.
By the numbers: For anyone interested in the correlation between policy and crime in San Francisco, the news site SFGate.com did a thorough analysis of the data during the Boudin recall campaign.
- Many, but not all, claims of rampant crime have exaggerated both how exceptional San Francisco's crime rates are, and their connection to specific "progressive" policies, the analysis found.