Bellevue - With violent crime out of control, WAGOP-endorsed candidate for Washington State Attorney General Pete Serrano is tackling the public safety crisis across our state with urgency.

The contrast with the current attorney general Bob Ferguson, who has made it his mission to swell the size of his staff to file frivolous lawsuits at taxpayer expense, could not be more pronounced.

“As a statewide candidate, I’ve consistently heard the people’s desperate pleas for a safer Washington, so my hope is that this event will bring leadership and lived experience (with a window into addiction and human trafficking) to work towards solving this issue,” says Serrano, a practicing attorney, the current Mayor Pasco, and the director of Silent Majority Foundation.

It is comforting to know someone is listening.

“Pete Serrano will be the state’s chief law enforcement officer that Washington has been waiting a decade for. Organizing this forum is proof of that,” says WAGOP Chairman Jim Walsh. “Serrano will make our neighborhoods and communities safer. He will fight crime. He will enforce the law. And, most importantly, he will listen to the people of Washington.”

Serrano will host and moderate The Restore Public Safety Forum this Friday, Oct. 18, at 7pm in North Seattle.

Panelists include WAGOP-endorsed candidate for Governor Dave Reichert, a former Congressman and sheriff, who has stayed within striking distance of his opponent AG Ferguson for the last several months; and WAGOP-endorsed candidate for US Senate Raul Garcia, MD. An emergency room doctor, Garcia has been on the frontlines of the fentanyl scourge. “There is no bigger crisis in our country today than the fentanyl crisis,” notes Garcia. “In 26 years of practicing medicine in the ER, I’ve not seen a bigger killer.”

The event will take place at Epic Life Church, located at 10510, Stone Ave. North. Other panelists include a recovered fentanyl user, a sex trafficking survivor, small business owners, community members, advocates, and members of law enforcement.

“My goal with the event is to let people know that their voice is being heard while giving them a preview of my leadership style as Washington state’s next attorney general,” says Serrano.

Serrano’s timing could not be better. Under the failed leadership of the current attorney general Ferguson—Washington’s top cop—the murder rate across WA is now more than five times the national average, according to FBI crime stats released last month. The Evergreen state also leads the nation in retail theft.

“My opponent [Nick Brown] has had the opportunity to deliver on public safety, as a political appointee of the Biden Administration, as the US Attorney for Western Washington, and as outgoing Governor Jay Inslee’s attorney,” adds Serrano. “He’s not made the state safer, and there’s no reason to anticipate a change if he’s elected attorney general of Washington state.”

Serrano is jointly hosting the event with The More We Love, a homeless advocacy group. “Together, we can restore public safety and make our home a better place to live,” says Serrano.