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A lifelong Democrat and former chief of police is now running for Congress as a Republican after he says that his former party “left” him.
According to The Daily Wire, La’Ron Singletary, the former chief of the Rochester, N.Y., Police Department became disgusted and upset with the contempt his former party has for police officers, which led him into the arms of the GOP and convinced him to run for Congress.
“The demonization, the demoralization, and the defunding of the police rhetoric from the Democratic Party, coupled with other ideologies the Democratic Party started to take on caused me to leave the party,” said Singletary, 42, who is running for New York’s 25th Congressional District. “The Democratic Party was no longer the party that I knew it to be, and no longer the party of my parents.”
He went on to echo remarks of another very famous former Democrat who left for the Republican Party — the late President Ronald Reagan — in an interview with the outlet saying that he “didn’t leave the Democratic Party, the Democratic Party left me.”
“We live in a country that allows us to change political parties if we no longer agree with the party’s beliefs,” he said. “When politicians put politics before people, it’s wrong.”
My name is La’Ron Singletary, a former Police Chief now running for Congress in NY’s 25th Congressional District. Join me in bringing common sense back to public safety and our government. The Time is Now! https://t.co/knEIFcowC8 pic.twitter.com/K8UXVzS3JZ
— La'Ron D. Singletary (@LaRonSingletary) April 14, 2022
The Daily Wire adds:
Singletary made national headlines two years ago when he stood up to now-ousted Democrat Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren, who was accused of mishandling the racially charged death of black man Daniel Prude and seemingly attempted to pin the blame on the police chief.
Singletary announced his resignation from his post on Sept. 8, 2020, and his entire command staff went with him, in a clear rebuke of Warren. The then-mayor fired Singletary after his resignation announcement.
“As a man of integrity, I will not sit idly by while outside entities attempt to destroy my character,” he said at the time.
Later, he filed a lawsuit against Warren and the City of Rochester for defaming his character, creating a hostile work environment, and wrongful and retaliatory termination. The experience left Singletary more determined that ever to serve the public on his own terms, he said.
“My desire, my commitment, and my passion to serve has not wavered,” Singletary said, recounting the episode
The suit was settled in February; the former police chief was awarded $75,000 and his health benefits were restored.
“For me, it was about the principle of the matter and clearing my name,” he said. “You only have one reputation and when it’s under attack, you must stand up and fight, especially when you are right.”
In his suit, Singletary, a lifelong resident of Rochester, noted that he “repeatedly refused to lie for Mayor Warren,” adding that “pressure to support Mayor Warren’s narrative also came from other city officials.”
Since then, Warren has been removed from her position, pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations, and had her home raided on suspected drug charges.
Singletary did not comment on Warren’s problems but instead told The Daily Wire what advice he used to give police recruits.
“I always told police recruits that we all have varying degrees of intelligence, it’s judgment that will land us in precarious situations,” he said.
Now that he is a member of the Republican Party, the ex-cop and police chief said that the events of the past few years really just drove him back to his roots, recounting that he grew up in a Democratic house but one where values followed by the family then do not align with today’s version of the party.
“While growing up in a Democratic household, I’ve always held conservative values,” he told The Daily Wire. “I grew up in the church and my parents ingrained in me that if you work hard, you can accomplish anything.”
He also said it was his father who encouraged him to get into police work because he admired the profession at a young age.
“My brother was the athlete, so my dad bought him all the sports equipment there was,” Singletary said. “I wanted to be a cop, so my dad bought me a police radio from Radio Shack. I would ride my bike throughout city neighborhoods, scanner attached to my belt buckle, going from call-to-call.
“I would arrive on the call, watch the officers handle the situation from afar, and when they were done, walk up to them, introduce myself, and proceed to ask a ton of questions. It was the best thing in the world to me,” he added.
