With just over a week to go before Republicans in Georgia head back to the polls to pick their nominee for Governor in the Aug. 10 runoff election, the two candidates are stepping up their rhetoric. In a debate over the weekend, former Secretary of State Karen Handel — one of Sarah Palin’s “Mama Grizzlies” — told her opponent, former Rep. Nathan Deal, that the attack ads of the runoff were nothing compared to what’s coming when the winner of the Republican primary squares off against the Democratic nominee, former Gov. Roy Barnes.
“This is a race for governor. Things are tough. Campaigns are tough,” Handel told Deal at the debate, after he called out her negative ads. “It’s frankly time to put the big-boy pants on because, candidly, if you can’t handle this, how are you going to handle Roy Barnes?”
See video of the debate here:
A recent Deal-sponsored poll showed the runoff tied with Handel at 39 and Deal at 38.
(h/t The Hill)
Evan McMorris-Santoro
Evan McMorris-Santoro has covered politics for TPM since 2009. Before that, he was a reporter at National Journal’s Hotline covering election 2008. He started his career covering local politics at newspapers in TN and his native NC.
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