Washington Republican Senate candidate Tiffany Smiley slammed her opponent Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) for her “soft-on-crime, bad policies” that have been destructive to the Evergreen State.

In an interview with Breitbart News Saturday, Smiley tore into Murry’s “out-of-touch” demeanor toward Washington and the issues in her state.

Murray acts like “there’s no crime, and there’s no problem, and the streets are safe, which is just a slap in the face to the people of Washington state who have had to endure her soft-on-crime, bad policies that are affecting our everyday lives,” Smiley said. “It is not safe for kids to go walk around downtown Seattle. And it’s not just Seattle, it’s trickling out into all of our communities.”

“Just on an average day in Seattle, you know, I was talking with a woman just a couple weeks ago. She went to lunch, she was violently assaulted, pushed in a corner — this is the middle of the day during the workweek — and when she fought off her assailant, she looked around at some bystanders, and she said, ‘What do I do?’ Someone said, ‘Call 911!’ And then someone said, ‘Why? They can’t do anything,'” she explained. “So we have real issues on the ground, we need to ensure that our police are fully funded on the federal level.”

Listen:

Lack of policing in Washington is a major issue according to Smiley, who pointed out dismally low individual-to-police officer ratios.

“When you look at per capita, we have the least amount of police officers per 1000 individuals,” she said. “I think that’s like one of the most stark contrasts ever, and I think we lead the country in that per capita … so we have rising crime and not enough police officers.”

“Seattle just had one of its deadliest months: 11 homicides — that doesn’t include violent crime,” she continued. “You look at the homeless encampments to fentanyl on our streets. It’s inhumane what we are allowing people to live in.”

To combat the lack of policing, Smiley supports federal grants to be used for retention and recruiting bonuses for police officers.

Murray, on the other hand, “talks about progressive Democrats. That’s what she’s fighting for,” Smiley said. “That’s who she’s aligning with, you know, and then she comes back to the state and walks around and tries to pretend like there’s no crime here — pretend everything’s great.”

Washingtonians are “worried about the rising cost of living, rising gas prices,” Smiley said. “They were worried about crime, they are worried about education. They were worried about fentanyl, not just on our streets, but in our schools killing our kids. And over the last year, it’s gotten worse.”

Some counties in Washington have declared public health emergencies in response to the fentanyl crisis, as young persons are overdosing at higher rates.

Smiley said she traveled to the southern border to see the issues there firsthand and witness how fentanyl crosses the border and poisons American citizens. She is calling to “secure our border” and “break up that billion-dollar cartel.”

“Sen. Murray, I don’t know if she’s ever been to the southern border,” she said. “She held a hearing on the fentanyl crisis, but hearings don’t save lives.”

Education is also a major issue in Washington, Smiley told Breitbart News Saturday.

Despite running on the issue of education during her 30-year tenure as senator, during the pandemic, Murray was “a champion of school closures. She was a champion of mandates, she was a champion of politicians-know-best versus giving parents a choice, and she doubled down and basically said she has no regrets, that she ‘followed the science,’ and she did what was right,” Smiley explained.

“Well, any parent across Washington state knows the harm and the abuse that was inflicted on our children,” she continued. “So what I will do as senator is ensure that federal funds follow the child in their education so we fund the children, not the system — that we ensure that parents have a choice that your zip code does not determine your destiny here in Washington state.”

Smiley also seeks to expand educational and vocational options for Americans, saying, “we need to decrease the stigma that college is for everyone.”

As such, the Washington Republican is calling to expose students to trades because “there are multiple pathways to the American dream.”

“We certainly need to ban the federal government from ever paying off someone’s student loan debts,” she continued. “There’s no reason why an electrician, a plumber, or a hairdresser has to pay off a doctor’s or lawyer’s student loans.”

“Sen. Murray uses fear and scare tactics to divide and conquer — people are sick and tired of that,” Smiley said.

Recent polling suggests that the race for Senate in Washington is close and could end up being an unexpected battleground seat in November.

Breccan F. Thies is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow him on Twitter @BreccanFThies.