Labor's candidate for Australia's most marginal seat of Cowan, in Perth, says negative comments from Liberal rivals about her anti-terrorism work have backfired.
Justice Minister Michael Keenan accused counter-terrorism expert Anne Aly of poor judgment for writing a letter that helped reduce the jail term for self-styled hate preacher Junaid Thorne, who she said was an ideal candidate for a deradicalisation program.
Other Liberals chimed in, including former prime minister John Howard.
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten labelled the comments desperation, while commentators called it Islamaphobic dog whistling.
"The few people who had heard about it and were paying attention to it told me that although they had been Liberal voters all their lives, that they were now voting Labor because they just didn't approve of the negative smear campaign," Ms Aly told reporters in Perth on Sunday.
"In some instances, it might have shored up some votes that were already going to go against me anyway."
The Muslim academic said she wanted to see less negativity and rancour in politics - and she could proudly say she didn't take any swipes at her rival, Luke Simpkins.
"There's no secret that I'm not a fan of the politics of fear and the politics of division," she said.
"I can stand here today and hold my head up high. We did not go negative on Luke Simpkins. We did not try to mount any kind of smear campaign.
"We ran our campaign with integrity. Whether or not I can say the same for the Liberal Party, I don't think I can."
Labor's campaign in WA wasn't without controversy. Swan candidate Tammy Solonec came under fire for labelling her rival, Liberal Steve Irons, a "rich white man".
Mr Irons, who retains the seat, was a ward of the state as a child and later became a small-business man.
Political analyst Peter Kennedy said Ms Solonec's comment was unwise and would have cost her some votes.
