It sounds crazy, but this kind of scenario is absolutely the norm for Democratic Socialist candidates: Being convicted of blatant criminal embezzlement is a badge of honor, not a disqualifying mark on their record. The complete inversion of moral standards is unsettling and it reinforces the need to prevent far-left activists from entering positions of local government.
Denver mayoral candidate, Shontel Lewis, stole thousands of dollars in EBT funds while working in the state food-stamp office in 2008. She says that the experience actually makes her "more qualified" for the job of mayor, ostensibly because this makes her more attuned to the needs of "struggling Denver citizens".
But maybe struggling Denver citizens should not be the deciding factor in who runs the city? Perhaps electing a thief to office will make their lives worse, not better.
Investigators identified seven benefit accounts Lewis accessed over five months while working at the state food-stamp office. She reissued EBT cards from other people’s accounts and gave the funds to her roommate (and used some herself). She originally faced felony charges, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor theft, served 18 months of probation, and later said she paid restitution in full.
Colorado's constitution restricts anyone convicted of "embezzlement of public moneys, bribery, perjury, solicitation of bribery, or subornation of perjury” from holding “any office of trust or profit in the state.” However, Lewis has been snaking past these rules for years. Similar concerns were raised when she ran for the Regional Transportation District board in 2018.
At that time she lawyered up and successfully obtained a position on the board from 2019 to 2022. Keep in mind, Colorado is a deep blue state run by progressive fanatics, and this was the era of DEI and BLM supremacy. Lewis has continually blamed her circumstances for the theft, claiming she was spurred on by "trauma".
“I believe my eligibility should be based on the voters, not on a series of poor decisions I made over a decade ago at a time of trauma in my life,” she said in a statement to The Colorado Sun.
Lewis is now a member of the City Council.
This is a typical strategy for leftists, apologizing for a crime while not truly taking accountability and blaming circumstances. Millions of people go through "trauma" and hardship everyday, and they don't steal. The fact that the thefts occurred while Lewis was working in a state office makes her continued presence in government all the more concerning. She used her trusted position to gain access more easily.
Her theft record and socialist politics also bring up the question of how she will handle crime in Denver?
Lewis talked in circles when asked whether she would defund the police to pay for pricey proposals like youth programming and city-owned affordable housing. She criticized the cuts Denver mayor Mike Johnston made to a wide range of services to bridge a $200 million deficit in the latest budget, cuts she said could have come from the Denver Police Department (DPD).
"Yes, cuts did need to be made, but I think there's an opportunity for us to always prioritize the people when we're talking about our budgets....We missed an opportunity to go back to those that were represented with DPD, with our Department of Safety, where we didn't actually see any cuts coming from the department."
Typically, far-left politicians refuse to enforce prosecution standards and tend to impede law enforcement operations at every turn. In some cases, these city leaders have even been caught manipulating stats in order to hide rising crime. They don't have to commit crime themselves; all they have to do is make crime easier for other miscreants.
It's not surprising that many socialist candidates tend to come from the national underbelly - DSA and their Democrat allies openly celebrate criminality as a lifestyle choice, and view morality as purely relative.