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Auchincloss gives advice to Dem. mayors: Improve safety and unlock the shampoo
"Every time a customer has to ask the CVS clerk to unlock the shampoo, Democrats get less popular," the congressman wrote in blog post this week.
New York City took center stage in the American political landscape this week, when the upstart state lawmaker Zohran Mamdani derailed former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s comeback bid. As New Yorkers went to the polls, one Massachusetts lawmaker used the occasion to lay out his advice to Mamdani or any other Democratic mayor.
Rep. Jake Auchincloss outlined a range of policies that he insists local leaders can use to make cities safer and more affordable. His final point centered on addressing “quality-of-life violations.” It contained a small nugget that may seem trivial, but one that Auchincloss says is a persistent factor eating away at Democratic support.
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“I think every time a customer has to ask the CVS clerk to unlock the shampoo, Democrats get less popular,” he wrote.
For the past few years residents in Massachusetts and across the country have expressed growing frustration with businesses, especially drug stores, locking up certain products behind glass barriers that require an employee to open.
Auchincloss believes this small inconvenience is the product of a larger reluctance from fellow Democrats to police “high public standards” and fight “degradations to public order.” Drug use, loitering, panhandling, encampments, vandalism, and shoplifting are all tied together, he wrote.
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The solution, according to Auchincloss, is to pair heightened policing with new investments in creating walkable neighborhoods and an expansion of community health centers.
Worries about the types of lawlessness described by Auchincloss have been percolating among some residents and local leaders in Boston recently. After Mayor Michelle Wu cleared a tent encampment near the area known as Mass. and Cass, congregate drug use and associated quality-of-life issues spread to new parts of the city. Residents in places like downtown and the South End have been especially vocal in their discontent.
The topic could play a big factor in Boston’s mayoral election this year, where Wu is facing off against a well-funded challenger in Josh Kraft. The longtime philanthropist and political newcomer has hammered Wu on the topic, claiming she bungled the Mass. and Cass situation and is not addressing the new concerns being voiced by residents.
Wu, for her part, is acknowledging the spillover effects of the tent clearing operation and says she is working with community leaders to make improvements.
Boston saw a 55% increase in shoplifting reports between the first half of 2019 and the same period in 2024, according to data released last year.
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Auchincloss published his advice before Mamdani’s stunning upset in New York City. Whether Mamdani will take any of the congressman’s advice remains to be seen. He must first triumph in the general election later this year. Auchincloss’s opinion of Mamdani, who proudly labels himself a democratic socialist, is unclear. A spokesperson for Auchincloss did not return a request for comment Thursday.
Some Massachusetts Democrats did weigh in on Mamdani’s win. Progressive stalwarts like Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey, alongside Rep. Ayanna Pressley, all offered their congratulations. Wu praised Mamdani, who sees the Boston mayor as a role model, in multiple interviews and on social media. Gov. Maura Healey sidestepped the topic of Mamdani’s victory.
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