Well, they tried, the Republicans did, and that counts for something. Given the decade in which party strategists simply wrote off Buffalo to the Democrats, it is notable that in this year’s municipal elections, they at least made an effort to produce a field of candidates.

It’s not surprising that it didn’t pan out, but they should keep pounding on the door. It’s the only way it will open. And it’s important that it does.

In a democracy, little is more dangerous than lack of a credible opposition party and, for decades, Buffalo hasn’t had one. The city is solidly Democratic, a hard fact that – perhaps understandably – has discouraged Republicans from pouring time, effort and money into what they might well believe to be a lost cause.

Realpolitik intrudes, as well. By declining to field candidates in Buffalo, Republicans can plausibly hope to depress Democratic turnout in the city, creating potential benefits to Republican candidates in other races.

Winning elections is important, of course – indeed, it’s the name of the game – and it’s hard to blame Republicans for choosing their battles. But it’s also easy to praise them for trying to make a difference in this year’s city elections. They’ll never be a player in those races without making some effort, so even a failed attempt can be praiseworthy.

It started out ambitiously. A slate of Republicans was preparing to take the field in races for Common Council, comptroller and city judge. But their efforts met with silence from minor parties, whose interest was considered essential. As a result, only one Republican, Council Niagara District candidate Mark T. Supples, remains in the fray.

One-party control of government is, itself, a risk to honest representation, as the first two years of the Trump administration have ably demonstrated. Similarly, it will pay to keep close watch on Albany, where Democrats now control all the levers of government.

But, in both the state and federal governments, opposition parties are at least showing up. They are there, members of the government. For Democrats, the payoff in Washington was retaking the House of Representatives in November’s elections. Republicans, we hope, will continue their efforts to reclaim power.

But in Buffalo, Republicans are not represented at all in elected positions. And until this year, they hadn’t even been trying, at least not in recent years.

You can’t win if you don’t even show up. That failure had been both unfortunate and unfair to those city voters who might respond to a case for Republican representation.

The good news is that, this year, the party tried. The door might never open to them, it is true, but what is also true is that if they don’t keep banging, they lose by default.