Former House Speakeri Nancy Pelosi is blaming Governor Kathy Hochul (D-NY) for the Democratic Party’s failure to retain control of the House of Representatives in the 2022 midterm elections.

Although Democrats fared better than they were expected to in the midterms — and Republicans only squeaked by with a slim majority — Pelosi claimed that Democrats could have kept the majority if Hochul had realized sooner that crime was a key issue with voters in her state.

Pelosi made the case in an interview with Maureen Dowd for The New York Times, arguing that down-ticket Republicans fared better in New York because Hochul had not had longer coattails.

“She said that she believed the Democrats could have held onto the House in November if top New York pols had realized that the key issue in that state was crime,” Dowd explained.

“The governor didn’t realize soon enough where the trouble was,” Pelosi said of Hochul, adding that the issue should have been addressed much sooner.

Hochul took a lot of heat from Republicans — not the least of which was her opponent in the 2022 gubernatorial race, Lee Zeldin (R-NY). In addition to calling Hochul out repeatedly for not addressing the issue, Zeldin found himself at the center of a couple of crime stories that he then used to great effect to bolster his point.

During one campaign stop, Zeldin himself was physically assaulted — however, he and several others were able to subdue his attacker and hold him until police arrived to take him into custody. Zeldin, who was unharmed, resumed his speech on bail reform after the man was taken away — but his attacker’s quick release from jail only served to back up Zeldin’s claims that New York was not doing enough to put violent criminals behind bars and keep them there.

Later in the campaign, a shooting took place just outside Zeldin’s Long Island home — while his teenaged daughters were in the house doing school work.

“After my daughters heard the gunshots and the screaming, they ran upstairs, locked themselves in the bathroom and immediately called 911,” Zeldin explained. “They acted very swiftly and smartly every step of the way and Diana and I are extremely proud of them.”

The shooting was reportedly unrelated to Zeldin personally.

Director Joel Souza was struck by the same bullet that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the film “Rust” — but the district attorney has said that actor and producer Alec Baldwin will not be charged for that.

New Mexico First Judicial District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies announced last week that Baldwin would be charged with involuntary manslaughter for firing the bullet that killed Hutchins, but according to the Santa Fe District Attorney’s Office, a charge for what Baldwin allegedly did to Souza does not even exist.

The only charge that would make sense with regard to the evidence, the D.A. explained, was “unintentional battery.” But battery requires intent, and the entire case against Baldwin in the Hutchins shooting is built on the assumption — and Baldwin’s insistence — that he did not intend to shoot anyone.

The Santa Fe Sheriff’s Office delivered a 500-page report on the shooting to prosecutors in October, and their overall assessment was that Baldwin had fired a gun that was loaded with live ammunition, but that he had not been aware it was loaded — nor had someone else loaded live ammunition with the intent to cause harm.

“Review of available law enforcement reports showed no compelling demonstration that the firearm was intentionally loaded with live ammunition on set. Based on all available information, including the absence of obvious intent to cause harm or death, the manner of death is best classified as accident,” the report read.

Armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed will also face involuntary manslaughter charges as well, and Carmack-Alwies’ office has announced that first assistant director David Halls already agreed to plead guilty to negligent use of a deadly weapon.

Baldwin has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, telling ABC’s George Stephanopoulos that he knew someone had to be blamed for the shooting but that it should not be him.

“I feel that someone is responsible for what happened and I can’t say who that is, but I know it’s not me. I might have killed myself if I thought I was responsible, and I don’t say that lightly,” Baldwin said, insisting that he had never pulled the trigger.