There was no national “Red Wave” in last November’s elections, but there sure was one in New York. Republicans won a clean sweep on Long Island, even washing George Santos into Congress. They lost Asian and Hispanic support in New York City, turning swathes of Brooklyn red and Queens purple.

The biggest issue dogging Democrats was crime: Crime rates really were up sharply in New York City; the local media wouldn’t let people hear the end of it; Republicans blamed Democrats’ 2019 bail reforms; Democrats said these weren’t the cause of the crime problem, but didn’t offer their own plausible theory of the case or communicate effectively to voters that they cared about the issue.