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Former King County sheriff and congressman Dave Reichert is challenging Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s claims that he’s as committed to public safety as himself with the gubernatorial race less than four months away.

Ferguson released a series of advertisements regarding his dedication to increasing the number of law enforcement officers per capita if elected.

“Public safety is my top priority, I’ll hire more police and first responders,” in a campaign ad.

“I think if you were to read The Seattle Times, which I normally don’t, you would see that they even question his comments about now all of a sudden he’s on board with law and order,” Reichert said on “The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH. “He was behind the effort to defund the cops. He has been a part of the effort in the charge to legalize drugs on our street streets, especially fentanyl. He now recognizes there needs to be a change.

Democratic candidate and Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson is leading the race for governor in a new — sponsored by The Seattle Times, KING 5 and the University of Washington’s (UW) — by nine percentage points over Reichert, the Republican challenger.

More on WA poll: Ferguson leads Reichert by single digits in new governor poll

Among 564 surveyed voters, 42% said they would vote for Ferguson compared to 33% saying they’d vote for Reichert — if the primary was today. “Undecided” received the third-most votes at 14%, doubling Republican Semi Bird (7%) and more than tripling Democrat State Senator Mark Mullet (4%).

“His answer is money,” Reichert said regarding Ferguson’s solutions for the deficit in law enforcement staffing. “Cops don’t become cops to get rich. They become cops because they want to make a difference and they want to help their community. So offering them bonuses is not going to be the key to regaining our status as one of the most professional law enforcement states in the country.”

Reichert said Seattle is down 500 cops while King County is down about 150. Those numbers are similar to Rantz’s findings.

“I was in the parade last night in Chinatown and I think I counted eight police officers who were assigned to protect everyone down there,” Reichert added.

More on police staffing in Seattle: SPD has under 425 patrol officers, 280 eligible for retirement

Reichert stated law enforcement staffing would increase if police officers were allowed to actually enforce state laws with support from local elected officials and if protections increased against civil suits from the public. However, he also wants to adjust his focus to the state’s parole board.

“I would readjust the parole board and the letting out the prisoners from our prisons,” Reichert said. “Thirty-five percent of our inmates have been released from prison. Add that to the fact that we’re 51st in the country with the least amount of police officers patrolling our streets.”

But funding from the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program — which supplies money and resources for staffing and equipment of multijurisdictional task forces throughout Washington — has been redirected, which Reichert believes is a catalyst in the increase in cartel involvement in the state.

“They redirected that funding so now they have to go back year after year and ask for funding,” Reichert said. “That’s not a way to address the fentanyl issue. We have to go after the Guatemalan gangs, El Salvadorian gangs, the Mexican gangs that are not only trafficking fentanyl and killing our citizens, but they’re also trafficking our daughters and our loved ones into the human trafficking world so we can’t stop it.”

More on Reichert: Ferguson trying to ‘undermine my reputation’ as honest public servant

Mullet, a self-identified “centrist” Democrat who has made public safety the top of his platform, has previously argued a moderate under the Democrat banner would have far more success in winning a governor election compared to a Republican, but that has not deterred Reichert.

“Yes, I agree with Mullet on the point that it is going to be difficult for someone holding the moniker of Republican next to their name to win in their state,” Reichert said. “It’s been 40 years, so the odds are against us. This is a David versus Goliath confrontation that we’re having here, but I have the experience to bring the state back to some sanity.”

Washington is holding an election for governor on Nov. 5. The primary is two weeks away on Aug. 6.

Reichert: ‘Good thing’ Biden left the race

President Joe Biden announced Sunday that he’s ending his presidential re-election campaign, concluding his career in public service that spanned more than half a century while the Democratic party scrambles to solidify its position with less than four months before Election Day. Reichert addressed that topic on “The Jason Rantz Show” as well.”

“This hasn’t just been over the last few weeks, we’ve witnessed this decline of our president for the last four years,” Reichert said. “To me, it’s sort of a sad state of affairs that the family hasn’t stepped in, or advisors or friends, to say it’s time to step aside and take care of his health.

“I think it’s a good thing that he’s he stepped aside, and we’ll see where this Democratic convention takes us,” Reichert continued.

Reichert used the interview with Rantz to thank Biden for his service to the U.S., but made sure to voice his disappointment over how Washington, D.C., has continued to deteriorate in its ability to communicate with its members, whether on the same ideological side or across the aisle.

Editor’s note: A typo in a previous version of this story incorrectly stated that Mr. Ferguson would “fire” instead of “hire” more public safety workers. Jason Rantz did not write this, and we regret the error.

Listen to “The Jason Rantz Show” on weekday afternoons from 3-7 p.m. on KTTH 770 AM (HD Radio 97.3 FM HD-Channel 3). Subscribe to the podcast here. Follow Jason on ,Ìý, and .