As Midterms Near, Political Ads Seize on Voters’ Fears about Crime

Crime statistics are notoriously hard to interpret. They’re often incomplete, out of date and ambiguous. But that hasn’t stopped candidates running in the midterms this year from cherry-picking data to score political points. Take a Republican attack ad against Josh Riley, a Democrat running for a competitive congressional seat in upstate New York. The ad, sponsored by the Congressional Leadership Fund, a Republican super PAC, cites a New York Post article about “violent crime surging in New York.” But the June 22 article is about rising violent crime in New York City — and five other U.S. cities — notmore