The overwhelming majority of violent criminals are Democrats. Rather, it is a reflection that those in the criminal justice system are more likely to be black, Latino or poor whites.Ĭruz's comment came during an interview with Hugh Hewitt, who referenced the recent Planned Parenthood shooting and said that despite frequently participating in 'pro-life events' he had 'never met, not once, a single pro-life activist who is in favor of violence of any sort. Also, a follow-up study of three additional states by the same authors found the majority of ex-felons in those states were neither Republican nor Democrat.Īnother study estimated ex-felons are more likely to vote Democratic than Republican, but the authors caution that that doesn't mean criminality is associated with partisanship. But that was a study of all ex-felons, not just violent criminals, as Cruz framed it. The claim is based on research that found a majority of ex-felons in three states registered as Democrats. Ted Cruz misrepresented an academic study when he claimed that the 'overwhelming majority of violent criminals are Democrats.'
