John Fetterman likes criminals. That may seem like hyperbole, but there’s really no other way to explain this radical Democrat’s record on crime as Pennsylvania’s lieutenant governor — a record that should disqualify him as a candidate for the U.S. Senate.

In his role as chairman of the Pennsylvania Board of Pardons, the tattooed, hoodie-wearing pol has led unanimous board votes to recommend clemency to the governor in 10 cases in which convicted killers were set free. Not surprisingly, outgoing Democrat Governor Tom Wolf granted clemency each time.

Among the guilty who walked were Felix Rosado, who was serving a life sentence for shooting a man to death in 1995; Edward Silvis, who killed an elderly woman during a home robbery in 1996; and James Inge, guilty of first-degree robbery and murder in 1974. These and other convicted killers were all given life sentences for having demonstrated their complete disregard for human life and their total lack of basic human decency.

Up until recently, Fetterman held a comfortable lead in his Senate race against Republican opponent Mehmet Oz. But that lead has evaporated as Oz and GOP groups have made public Fetterman’s abysmal approach to crime. The most recent polling has the two candidates tied at 46%, with a libertarian candidate pulling 2% of the vote and the remainder undecided.

Fetterman is on record expressing disdain for tough policies on crime, including eliminating mandatory life sentences for second-degree murderers and ending the “stop-and-frisk” policy that had long kept a lid on crime in New York and elsewhere.

Fetterman’s stance on crime is in lockstep with his far-left worldview. He has long advocated for universal drug decriminalization and policies that would release up to a third of all Pennsylvania state inmates. Having seen his once comfortable lead collapse, Fetterman has now backed off that position, but prosecutors and criminal justice experts in Pennsylvania and elsewhere have noted that Fetterman’s views are at odds with the sharp surge in crime nationwide.

“For those of us who study crime trends,” said retired FBI special agent James Gagliano, “we immediately sensed the causal relationship between releasing criminal recidivists and the glaring uptick in crime — especially violent crimes.”

Fetterman’s campaign spokesman Joe Calvello framed the candidate’s record on crime as one to be praised. “John saved taxpayer money and took a fair-minded approach to every case he considered, voting to deny hundreds of pardon and commutation cases while also siding with law enforcement experts nearly 90% of the time,” said Calvello. On Fetterman’s stance on police funding, he added, “John has worked hand-in-hand with local police, so he knows the challenges they face and will support them with the funding they need.”

Unfortunately for Fetterman, the company he keeps proves otherwise. He’s backed by organizations like Reclaim Philadelphia, which claims that the city’s police budget is funded by money “stolen from communities.” Fetterman also endorsed Philadelphia’s undeniably awful district attorney Larry Krasner, a George Soros-backed pro-criminal prosecutor who’s now facing impeachment for his utter dereliction of duty amid a catastrophic spike in violent crime in the city.

Setting aside his obvious and acknowledged cognitive impairment caused by a recent stroke, John Fetterman is not fit to represent Pennsylvania in the U.S. Senate. These violent times call for a strong and consistent voice for law and order — and John Fetterman’s soft-on-crime voice has been anything but that.