Douglas Murray writes for the New York Post about the dearth of evidence that Democrats can handle local government well.

As we draw closer to polling day, there is really only one question anyone needs to have in their head. Are things better or worse than when America last went to the polls?

The problem is that you can answer that differently state by state. A lot of people who fled California in the last couple of years, for instance, can say that their lives have improved by moving to Tennessee, Florida or Texas.

So let me narrow the question down a bit. Can anybody in any Democratic-run city honestly say that their lives — and city — have improved over the last couple of years?

That’s a slightly easier question. As New Yorkers go to the polls it is also a slightly devastating one to ask. Because it has a devastating answer.

I dare even the most die-hard, dyed-in-the-wool Democrat to say, “Oh, New York has never been better. In fact, it’s just getting better and better.” Does anyone really believe that? Is there a single person out there who can really say that with a straight face? As they survey the crime in our city, the homelessness, the waste and rats. And I’m not even talking about the incumbents of City Hall. Does anyone think that this great city has become greater in the last two years?

The stats in New York speak for themselves. Ignore the nightmare year of 2020, and just look at the increase in crime during the last year. Between July 2021 and July 2022 shooting incidents in New York increased by almost 14%. The number of murders increased by almost 35%.

Of course, most of us are lucky enough not to get shot. So it’s easy for some people to be lax in their judgments. But the same figures exist in almost every other area of crime.