Seems like we just finished a congressional election, doesn't it?  That's because we did.  The good folks of Staten Island, New York have another one coming up, though. Their just-reelected congressman, Michael Grimm, has been convicted in federal court and has resigned.

Nia-Malika Henderson has this post in The Fix, the WaPo's political blog, titled "Race to replace Grimm could be all about Bill de Blasio and Eric Garner."

This is the district, after all, where Garner was choked by a police officer and later died. It's also the rare part of New York City that doesn't really like the Democratic mayor, who has inflamed New York City police by appearing too sympathetic to the Garner protesters. A recent poll pegged de Blasio's approval on Staten Island at 25 percent, with 58 percent disapproving. City-wide, he was in positive territory, at 50 percent approval and 32 percent disapproval.

Another key data point (referenced above): de Blasio won his 2013 race by a whopping 49 points but still lost Staten Island to Republican Joe Lhota.

Crime wasn't a big issue in the last election.  To some extent, crime fighters are political victims of our own success.  We set out in the 80s to bring down the sky-high crime rates.  Crime issues were prominent in elections in the 80s and 90s, and important changes in policy were made.  Down the rates came, as much as would could have hoped for.  Recently crime has been off most voters' radar screens, as noted in Bill's post.

Falling crime rates were not the only reason for the lack of voter attention, though.  Wars in the Middle East and economic crises at home also displaced crime from the spotlight.  With those issues fading, voter attention to crime may return, even if not at the intensity of years past.