It must have come as a shock to Philadelphia Democratic Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon when, in the middle of a sunny Wednesday afternoon, two armed men ordered her out of her Acura and drove off, taking her purse and government-issued phone with them.

Scanlon was the second Democratic lawmaker carjacked in 24 hours. The evening before, Illinois state Sen. Kimberly Lightford’s car was stolen in a Chicago suburb.

Scanlon and Lightford are surely surprised. But the real surprise is that it has taken so long for a high-profile Democrat to have her car stolen. Grand theft auto surged nationwide in 2020, according to FBI statistics. It’s continued to rise in major cities like New York, where thefts are up 14% relative to this time last year; Philadelphia, 15%; and Chicago, 7%.

Utterly predictable It was only a matter of time before the surge — part of a massive increase in certain serious crimes — affected lawmakers who have pushed to weaken, or even cripple, the criminal-justice..........