Crime, Policing and Prisons

Cash bail and pretrial release

34 public statements from 2026 candidates

§1The range of views

Why this matters: Bail rules decide who waits for trial in jail and who goes home, which affects public safety, people's jobs and families, and jail costs.

Drafted by AI, then checked for neutral wording in a separate AI review. It describes the question and the main positions, not any candidate's view. Facts link to their sources.

Whether people charged with a crime must pay money bail to be released before trial, or whether judges decide whether to release or hold them based on their risk instead.

  1. Require bail or jail before trial for more charges
  2. Keep current bail rules
  3. End or reduce cash bail, with judges deciding release based on risk

These options describe policies, not people. The order is not a ranking.

§2What candidates have said

Why this matters: Statements candidates made publicly, summarized in plain words with a link to where they said it. Candidates who haven't spoken publicly on this issue aren't listed.

Drafted by AI from the public sources cited. Each sentence links to its source.

Require bail or jail before trial for more charges (9)

  • Jeff Frese CA-10
    His campaign website calls for ending cashless bail and keeping repeat offenders off the streets.1
  • Sam Gallucci CA-26
    His campaign website calls for banning cashless bail to end the immediate release of repeat violent offenders.2
  • Victor Marx CO Governor
    His campaign website says he would sponsor legislation requiring money bail for all violent felonies and prohibiting zero-bail programs.3
  • Houston Gaines GA-10
    His campaign website says he carried legislation to stop cashless bail in Georgia.4
  • Gordon Heslop LA-4
    His campaign website says he opposes bail for those charged with cases of significant assault against anyone.5
  • Michael Roger Minogue MA Governor
    His campaign website says he would eliminate cashless bail.6
  • Michael Whatley NC Senate
    His campaign website says he would work to roll back cashless bail and expanded pretrial release.7,8
  • Vivek Ramaswamy OH Governor
    His campaign website says he would enforce stricter bail and sentencing for repeat violent offenders.9
  • Greg Abbott TX Governor
    His campaign website says people in the country without legal permission who are arrested for violent felonies should be denied bail and held until trial, and it says he has already made the state's bail rules stricter.10,11

End or reduce cash bail, with judges deciding release based on risk (12)

  • Robb Ryerse AR-3
    His campaign website calls for reforming cash bail so that people are not jailed for being poor.12
  • Ted W. Lieu CA-36
    His campaign website says he wrote a bill to end money bail.13
  • Phil Weiser CO Governor
    His campaign website says access to bail should be based on public safety risk, not how much money a person has.14
  • Mike Sell FL-4
    His campaign's platform calls for ending cash bail for nonviolent offenses so that pretrial detention is based on risk rather than wealth.15
  • Nikema Williams GA-5
    An earlier issues page still on her campaign website says she will advocate for ending the use of cash bail.16
  • Delia Ramirez IL-3
    Her campaign website lists among her Illinois House record reforming the state's bond system so that judges make pretrial detention decisions based on public safety rather than jailing people for being poor.17
  • JB Pritzker IL Governor
    His campaign website lists empowering judges to keep violent criminals off the streets by stopping them from buying their way out of jail among his accomplishments.18
  • Pete Lynch KY-6
    His campaign website says he supports ending cash bail.19
  • Donavan McKinney MI-13
    His campaign website says he is committed to ending cash bail, because people should not be jailed simply because they are poor.20
  • Valerie P. Foushee NC-4
    Her campaign website says she is advocating in Congress to end cash bail.21
  • Donald Norcross NJ-1
    His campaign website says he led the push to reform New Jersey's bail laws so that release decisions focus on an offender's risks rather than their resources.22,23
  • Ryan Michael Kelly NJ-3
    His campaign website says he supports ending cash bail and pretrial detention that depends on wealth, while allowing brief detention in limited cases where evidence points to a serious and immediate danger.24

Statements that don't match one option (13)

  • Adam Gray CA-13
    His campaign website says he opposed California ballot measures on zero bail (Proposition 25), reduced sentencing (Proposition 47) and early release (Proposition 57).25
  • April A. Verlato CA-28
    Her campaign website says she helped organize support for a lawsuit against a zero-bail policy.26
  • Kevin E. Martin GA-6
    His campaign website says that where federal law governs release before trial, the standard should account for what happens when someone with a violent history is released, and that bail decisions in state courts are not controlled by Congress.27
  • Tommy Hanson IL-5
    His campaign website says he believes in prosecuting violent criminals and keeping them in jail as long as legally possible, with no early release and no reduced bail.28
  • Niki Conforti IL-6
    Her campaign website says she opposes releasing violent felons on their own recognizance, which it says the Safe-T Act requires.29
  • Barb Regnitz IN-1
    Her campaign website says she wants to end the cycle of catch-and-release policies that put offenders back on the streets.30
  • Stephen Wagley LA-6
    His campaign website says he opposes cashless bail, catch and release and reduced federal sentences for drugs and murder.31
  • Ayanna S. Pressley MA-7
    Her campaign website lists cash bail among the policies that it says make the criminal legal system disproportionately punish Black and brown people, and says the system must be completely reimagined.32
  • LaVeta Davenport MI-1
    The Green Party of Michigan 2026 platform text on her campaign website, which says she fully aligns with it, calls for reforming bail, adopting restorative justice, and punishing more crimes with tickets rather than prison time.33
  • Lisa Demuth MN Governor
    Her campaign website says judges should be required to put defendants awaiting trial for a violent crime on electronic monitoring when no bail is ordered.34
  • Wesley Bell MO-1
    His campaign website says that in Congress he has introduced reforms to the pretrial detention system.35
  • Kelly Ayotte NH Governor
    Her campaign website says she fixed what it calls New Hampshire's broken bail system.36,37
  • Bruce A. Blakeman NY Governor
    His campaign website criticizes New York's cashless bail policies and its Raise the Age law, saying they let offenders leave jail without consequences.38