With less than 20 days until the election, the gubernatorial race in Georgia is heating up, with frontrunners Jason Carter (D) and Nathan Deal (R) both turning negative in a new wave of campaign ads.
Most recently to hit the airwaves is an attack from Georgia State Senator Jason Carter, who has up until now relied on positive ads and contrast pieces to appeal to voters. In his attack, Carter criticizes Deal for making $3 million while in office while the Georgian middle class suffers. He references the controversial sale of Deal's salvage yard business to a company that could owe the government as much as $74 million in back taxes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MI-mMUa01-g
“Nathan Deal. Putting money in his pockets, not ours,” the ad closes.
The negative ad comes shortly after a line of attacks from both Nathan Deal and the Republican Governors Association, aligning Carter with Obama on the issue of health care.
Carter has repeatedly distanced himself from Obamacare, going so far as to even call it a mess.
“Anybody who looks at the Affordable Care Act or Obamacare or whatever you want to call it, has to recognize that it’s a mess,” - Jason Carter said.
Despite Carter's refusal to fully endorse Obamacare, the Republican Governors Association poured $500,000 in the original attack ad, which can be viewed here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXTWHQSj4Mw
Carter's drastic shift from defense to offense this late in the election signals the increasingly hostile environment in Georgia. In what was previously a dead heat, Democrat Jason Carter is now two percentage points behind Republican Nathan Deal, with Libertarian candidate Andrew Hunt averaging around 5 percent in recent polls.
The race will ultimately come down to who can appeal to the 40 percent of Georgians who no longer affiliate with the two major political parties.
