Mike Beaudreau, who was re-elected to his District 3 seat on the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners, waded into the contentious race for chairman on Friday, waving a white flag.

Dispatching an e-mail to both incumbent Commission Chairman Charles Bannister and fellow Commissioner Lorraine Green, who faces Bannister in a runoff, Beaudreau asked the opponents to sign a "clean campaign pledge." He asked that they focus their campaign from now till the Aug. 5 runoff on "their vision for the county."

"As I was going door-to-door and talking to people and talking to friends in the community," Beaudreau said, "I came across more and more people who were just disgusted by the volume of negativity and the lies. They found it very difficult to sort through fact from fiction."

He hesitated to get into the middle of what's been a bitter contest, he said, but felt compelled to "bring some sanity to the race."

Beaudreau ended his e-mail by agreeing to stay out of the race if both candidates agree to the pledge and keep their word.

If not, he would endorse the one who will — "and bring a few thousand Gwinnett residents with me."

Green e-mailed him back, Beaudreau said, to say she "heartily agreed and would absolutely agree to make such a pledge."

Bannister was "out of pocket," according to his campaign manager Jeremy Brand, but Brand said "Chairman Bannister and The Campaign to Re-elect Chairman Bannister is going to run an honest, issue-based campaign."

Brand said an e-mail to that effect would be sent to Beaudreau.