Several researchers could point to no studies suggesting that the partisanship of a mayor has an effect on this. And while homicides have spiked this year in big cities, they have risen by similar amounts in a number of smaller cities with Republican mayors, including Tulsa, Okla., and San Bernardino, Calif. The researchers Justin de Benedictis-Kessner and Christopher Warshaw have found that Democratic mayors spend more than Republican mayors. And cities lack the power the federal government has to shape labor laws, or immigration policies that can affect their population growth. “The assumption is that cities are city-states,” said Joshua Sapotichne, a political scientist at Michigan State University.

Source: New York Times September 02, 2020 06:56 UTC