Buying a home in spring 2023 means both higher interest rates and stiff competition.

The Wall Street Journal's Your Money Briefing podcast is breaking it all down,

in a special weekly series under contract. You're a guide to home buying.

New episodes drop each Friday. Follow Your Money Briefing everywhere you listen to podcasts.

From the opinion pages of The Wall Street Journal, this is Potomac Watch.

A pair of elections on Tuesday are more important than usual.

Spring off year contest, Chicago, Alexa, new mayor with a clear difference of governing

philosophies at stake and Wisconsin. We'll elect a new swing justice to the state Supreme Court

in a race with major implications, not just for that state, but perhaps for the next Congress.

Plus, Russia takes journal reporter Evan Griskovich hostage. We'll tell you where that stands.

Welcome. I'm Paul Gigo here with my colleagues, Kim Strasswell and Colin Levy.

Welcome to you both. Let's start with the election in Chicago, which is a city that has been

much in the news for its rising crime rate, its other problems of fiscal difficulties, school

strikes, and whatnot. The incumbent mayor, Laurie Lightfoot, was defeated in the primary

several weeks ago. So we have a contest now between Paul Vales, who is a former school's

chancellor and is running against Brandon Johnson, who is commissioner of Cook County, one of

several. He and the two of them have, I think, it's safe to say different philosophies, Colin.

What are the major dividing lines here? Well, Paul, I think the major dividing lines in this race

are primarily over crime and also over education. As you mentioned, Chicago has been in the middle of

an unprecedented crime wave. I mean, Chicago's long had a reputation as being sort of a rough place,

for years living here, people would say, oh, you live in Chicago, it's such a dangerous city.

And it really never resonated. It just didn't, never really felt that way. But over the past five

...