Matt Richardson said he knew the race for the 31st District Washington State Senate seat was going to get ugly.

And he was right.

With election day just around the corner Richardson, a Sumner City Councilman and Republican who is running against incumbent Republican Sen. Pam Roach, said he has been besieged by allegations of past wrongdoing that have forced him to spend much of his energy defending his character, rather than focusing on the issues.

“When I entered the race, I knew what it was going to be like,” he said. “Nothing that has happened has surprised me. Roach has run campaigns of personal destruction for 20 years. Campaigns of personal destruction and character assassination against every opponent she’s faced for 20 years. And I wasn’t going to let her threaten anyone else, or myself, in another election.”

Although Richardson said that several crucial issues face the 31st District – citing economic improvement, transportation, flooding, education and balancing the Washington State budget as the top-five – he contends the key issue is effective representation in the legislature, which he said the incumbent is unable to provide because of her expulsion from the Republican Caucus.

“If your senator can’t do anything for your district because they’re cut off from colleagues and cut off from staff, what are you getting down there? Nothing,” Richardson said. ”

According to Richardson, Sen. Roach’s inability to meet with members of her own party hinder her ability to represent her constituents in the 31st.

“I’m the only candidate in this race right now who has the ability to unify the district,” he said. “Between me and Roach, I’m the only candidate who can go down there and do two things, be effective and be included.”

Richardson, who has been on the Sumner council for seven years and served as the vice chair of the Pierce County Regional council, cites his past experience as a legislative aide for Washington State Sen. Pat Hale as well as his time working on the staff of U.S. Congressman Rick White, as examples of the experience he hopes to bring to Olympia. His newest campaign mailer touts letters of recommendations from both legislators.

Richardson also holds a Masters of Public Policy/Philosophy from the University of Washington as well as a teacher’s certificate from Saint Martin’s University, said he is prepared to make hard decisions if elected.

“We’re faced with such a historical, monumental and legally obligated task, balancing the budget,” he said. “What I’m asking the public for is some forgiveness for what the legislature has to do to stabilize the budget for everyone in the state. It’s going to take a lot of Republicans and Democrats shaking their heads and saying ‘this is where we are.’ There is no way of getting around it. It’s not politics anymore.

“The fact of the matter is that we have to balance the budget or we’re going to be an insolvent state,” he continued. “In a year from now if we become insolvent, how do all the people who need state help and services get it? They won’t get anything. How is that responsible government, if you’re setting the people up for absolute and complete catastrophic failure of the system, how have you actually done what the people want you to do?”

Richardson said the challenge facing legislators is learning to work across the aisle.

“We’re entering a new era down there where we have to get the work done together and not attack each other so much over, well, you’re saving this program or this program,’” he said.

Which all leads back to what Richardson claims is Roach’s inability to work with other legislators in Olympia.

“That’s the big issue with the budget out there right now,” he said. “And how that relates to this seat is – your current senator can’t meet with her own colleagues, can’t work with staff, has very few if any relationships with Democrats and is legally one step away from expulsion from the Senate. Which she is. That’s the next step.

“She’s been successful in dealing with some small issues for constituents, but she’s been a disaster on the issues for the district,” he continued. “How has she done on the five issues facing this district? She hasn’t done anything there. She can’t. She’s cut off, for one. And nobody listens to her down there now.”

Despite the prospect of a nasty political battle, Richardson said he ultimately decided to run for the position because he thinks the district he lives in and represents deserves better.

“I knew that Pam Roach needs to destroy every opponent she runs against, she needs to personally destroy them to win, because she doesn’t have a record to run on,” he said. “And because it so hurts the district and so many thousands of families, I didn’t have a choice. There are three brave people in this district, and I want to give them credit. Ray Bunk, Ron Weigelt (both Democrats who also ran for the 31st senate seat and were defeated in the primary) and myself stood up for the people of this district. And now is the time to have something better.”