The 2022 midterms may likely turn on an issue that has not been on voters’ minds for many an election cycle: crime. Several recent surveys conducted independently and by the two parties indicate that crime will be a critical factor for voters when they choose their preferred candidates in state and local races next week.

Crime barely pegged as an issue for voters for much of the 21st century. Strong policing tactics and tough sentencing laws introduced in the 1990s brought violent crime under control and improved quality of life across the country. That changed two years ago. The race-baiting of Black Lives Matter and its surrogates who encouraged people to riot, loot, and pillage neighborhoods and businesses in cities around the country in 2020 and the anti-police rhetoric of many Democrats have led to a surge in crime that has citizens concerned for their safety. Whereas crime was not a major talking point earlier this election cycle, it now ranks alongside the economy as a top issue of concern.

Republican candidates have been hammering home the issue on the campaign trail and in debates against flat-footed opponents like Pennsylvania Senate candidate John Fetterman and New York Governor Kathy Hochul, who now have to defend their horrible records on crime.

True to form, Dems are breaking out a litany of excuses. Hochul took a page out of the Hillary Clinton playbook, claiming that the crime issue was a “conspiracy” crafted by Republicans. “These are master manipulators,” she explained. “They have this conspiracy going all across America to try and convince people that in Democratic states they’re not as safe.” Sorry, Governor, but Americans already feel unsafe in our cities. Republican candidates are pointing out the obvious while you and your Democrat colleagues remain tone-deaf to reality.

Democrats cannot deny their complicity in the rise of crime since 2020. During that pandemic summer they argued, along with leftist agitators, that the violence roiling American cities was the fault of the police, not the criminals. They dialed back sentencing laws and police funding. Public prosecutors refused to do their jobs and put criminals behind bars. The media refused to report on the riots and random attacks of innocent people that became an epidemic. The rhetoric against law enforcement endangered the lives of police officers and the citizens they protect.

Now Democrats are trying to distance themselves from their actions. Those who are not going Hochul’s route and calling it all a conspiracy are trying to play down their involvement in the anti-law-and-order crusade. The media is naturally doing its part, telling us that not all Democrats openly supported defunding police departments. However, there are a lot of Democrats who associate with and have received substantial support from leftist groups whose mission statement is the deconstruction of law and order on America’s streets. There are Democrats who may not have said the words “defund the police,” but their associations give them away.

Another defensive tactic is to spin the numbers. Several Democrat candidates point to FBI crime statistics that indicate no significant rise in violent crime and no alarming numbers comparable to what America witnessed in the latter part of the 20th century. However, while it can be said that violent crime has not risen significantly in total, murder has risen significantly since the pandemic.

As our Mark Alexander recently noted: “Unfortunately (but fortunately for Democrats), we do not know the extent to which crime continues to surge this year because the FBI’s uniform crime reporting system is now anything but uniform. The same month Biden took office, the FBI, besieged with its own political corruption, switched to a new reporting system, which it absurdly claimed … is much better than the old system. As a result of that switch, more than 40% of police departments nationwide did not submit full data sets for 2021, and that includes major Demo-controlled cities in California, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey, and New York, where we know cities are breaking all-time murder records again this year. Despite the incomplete data, the FBI still reported a 4.3% increase in murders last year over the unprecedented 30% increase in 2020.”

Additionally, the savage nature and randomness of some crimes now taking place need to be taken into account, and the FBI’s numbers do not reflect the most recent crime activity now taking place in the lead-up to the election.

Crime is a problem in America, and saying it is not as bad as it could be or that it used to be worse is not a solution. Democrats have had their chance to combat the issue, and they chose to side with the criminals. Next week is the opportunity to bring them to account.