SHELTON - Gov. Chris Gregoire railed against a recent mailer sent out by the Republican Governors Association at a campaign rally in Shelton today. The mailer, which hit mailboxes on October 10, displayed a number of frightening looking mug shots of sexual predators and said that Gregoire had overseen the early release of 1300 people convicted of sex crimes, including some against children, who are now registered as homeless.

"Last week when the sex predator ads went up was probably the worst day in my political career," Gregoire said in her stump speech, "because there could be nothing further from the truth.

She then said the ad prompted a bi-partisan coalition police chiefs and prosecutors to become "incensed" to the point of releasing radio ads and recording robo calls in order to condemn them.

Gregoire also told a story about a young girl in Eatonville who has seen the mail piece and asked her if it was okay for her to go outside.

Although the piece was sent out by the RGA and not Rossi's campaign, Gregoire implied to the crowd that such advertisements ought to be a litmus test for the election, and assured them that she would not be a part of what she referred to as fear mongering.

"I want you to know I never have," Gregoire said. "I want you to know I never will. You deserve better. You need honesty. You need integrity. You need someone who will not resort to those kinds of tactics to be your next governor and I guarantee you that is the kind of governor I will be for you."

PolitickerWA.com caught up with the governor after the event and asked her if she felt that negative ads were an added obstacle in her quest for re-election. She responded to the contrary, that the ads would only benefit her.

"They're not hurting me," she said of the sexual predator mailers. "They are hurting the state of Washington. When I have a child come up to me and ask if she is safe to go outside because she is seeing those ads, that is hurting the fabric of the state of Washington. To make little kids afraid, to make families afraid, is just wrong. It is shameful to engage in fear mongering and that is what they are doing.

"I don't think it is going to hurt me I think it is going to backfire because I think the average citizen knows those ads are untrue and I think they are going to say, ‘take your negative ads away from the state of Washington, they are not welcome here.'"

Asked about the third party mailer by PolitickerWA.com last week in Ellensburg, Rossi said he was busy on the campaign trail and had not yet seen them.

He has also spent time accusing the governor of releasing false negative ads against him, spefically on his positions regarding stem cell research and the minimum wage.