Crime Researchers Say Political Candidates Are Ignoring Evidence As The Midterm Campaigns Heat Up

The parking lot is dark. The blonde woman — alone — pushes her grocery cart toward her car. “Crime is out of control,” a shaky-voiced narrator warns as the woman’s white knuckles cling to the cart. “It drives the fear that we will feel. Pumping gas. Walking to the car.”

Then the camera cuts to the Republican candidate for New Mexico governor, Mark Ronchetti, who helps the woman unload her groceries as he announces his plans for combating crime.

Throw a dart at a map of the United States, and...