Marine veteran elected mayor in Stockton, Calif., says voters rejected Dem incumbent's 'defund police' push

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Republican Marine vet Kevin Lincoln unseats Democrat in Stockton, Calif., mayor’s race

Stockton, Calif., Mayor-elect Kevin Lincoln says he plans to prioritize police, address homelessness during his term.

Republican Marine veteran Kevin Lincoln unseated a Democrat mayor in Stockton, Calif., citing the residents placing "safety and security" as their top need.

“It all boils down to improving the quality of life for all Stocktonians in our city,” Lincoln told "Fox & Friends."

“Our homeless population ... has not only plagued our city in our county but the state, and even has become a national epidemic here. It’s improving the quality of life, and again, the people of Stockton, they didn’t want to defund the police,” Lincoln said.

JUSTICE ALITO: MAIL-IN BALLOTS RECEIVED AFTER ELECTION DAY IN PENNSYLVANIA MUST BE KEPT SEPARATE

Despite Democrats’ confident predictions of a “blue wave” sweeping statehouses in the November election, the final results showed that almost nothing had changed. Yet in California, a Democrat stronghold, Republicans are poised to flip more House seats than in any other state.

The results have shown a significant, reversal from the 2018 midterms, which was marked by a rabid anti-Trump furor that helped Democrats flip seven House seats. Now, the GOP is on the verge of taking back four of those seats.

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Lincoln said that the defund the police mantra promoted by the current Democratic mayor Michael Tubbs turned off a lot of Stockton residents, paving his way to victory. Tubbs had won his last mayoral election by a large margin.

“When there wasn’t a clear defund the police movement, there was one at our Stockton Unified Scool district when the current mayor was open about supporting that initiative,” Lincoln said.

“When you have a city that you have a third of your population is under the age of 18, people want to ensure that their kids are safe. We have one of the largest school districts in the nation with over 50 schools and over 40,000 students and, so, safety and security throughout the city of Stockton is extremely important to the residents.”

Fox News' Bradford Betz contributed to this report.