The National Republican Congressional Committee on Monday accused Rep. Frank Kratovil (D), a former Queen Anne’s County States Attorney, of being soft of crime to the point that he put residents of his Eastern Shore-based district at risk.

NRCC spokesman Andy Sere pointed to the case of Dontell Lamont Guy, a violent offender who twice came before Kratovil on various assault, gun and drug charges and is now on Queen Anne’s County wanted lists. Sere said Kratovil’s “criminal-coddling” was the reason Guy didn’t receive a tougher sentence when he came through court system in 2004 and 2008. Sere speculated that Kratovil was too busy campaigning in 2008 to pursue a harsher sentence and said that’s why Guy is on the run today.

The release may be the first shot in a “soft on crime” offensive against Kratovil, who won one of the closest races of the 2008 cycle and faces a tough rematch against state Sen. Andy Harris (R). Republicans say they have at least 10 more cases in which a criminal whom Kratovil dropped charges against has re-offended since the end of the last campaign.

Kratovil spokesman Kevin Lawlor called the NRCC release a rehash of a failed GOP campaign tactic that Harris tried to employ last cycle.