Just when you think things can’t get oilier when it comes to DeKalb County politics, enter the campaign of Commissioner Sharon Barnes Sutton, who faces a runoff in July against opponent Steve Bradshaw.

The commissioner has defended herself in the past from ethics charges and constant bombardment on a host of issues. Now Sutton has chosen to paint her opponent, who is African-American, as is she, as a pawn of the northside Republicans. You know, white folks.

But Sutton is moving the meter to a new low in a passive-aggressive racial dig at her opponent, who has a white wife.

Sutton didn’t come out and say it. Instead, her campaign put a photo of Bradshaw and his longtime spouse on a flier that tears into him. The strategy of the now-desperate Sutton (Bradshaw outpolled her last week) is to hope enough of the mostly black district doesn’t go for interracial marriages.

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8/26/17 - Atlanta, GA - Georgia leaders, including Gov. Nathan Deal, Sandra Deal, members of the King family, and Rep. Calvin Smyre,  were on hand for unveiling of the first statue of Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday at the statehouse grounds, more than three years after Gov. Nathan Deal first announced the project.  During the hour-long ceremony leading to the unveiling of the statue of Martin Luther King Jr. at the state Capitol on Monday, many speakers, including Gov. Nathan Deal, spoke of King's biography. The statue was unveiled on the anniversary of King's famed "I Have Dream" speech. BOB ANDRES  /BANDRES@AJC.COM

Credit: Bob Andres