Deal campaign often pits Carter stances against past votes

It’s becoming a familiar attack on the campaign trail in Georgia’s race for governor: Democrat Jason Carter criticizes a policy under Gov. Nathan Deal, who points to a previous vote that binds them together.

As November nears, the Atlanta state senator is facing increasing criticism from Deal and his allies for past votes in favor of state funding blueprints, economic policy and executive branch appointees that Carter is now slamming.

Carter’s campaign said his votes show a willingness to cross party lines and work with Republicans to shape legislation. The candidate has also cast the attack as a distraction to divert attention from his vision to significantly boost education funding and increase transparency in Georgia government.

The governor, locked in a tight race with Carter in the final weeks of the campaign, said it’s a sign that the Democrat isn’t ready for the state’s highest office. Carter, he said at a recent campaign stop, is guided by “purely political motivations” on pressing issues.

A ‘grab bag’ vote

The most scrutinized vote Carter confronts on the campaign trail is also the heart of his campaign: a push for greater education funding.

In his first three years in office, Carter raised concerns about the state's commitment to public education in speeches and legislative meetings. But he also voted for spending plans proposed by the governor that included about $3.3 billion in austerity cuts to education.

This year, he voted against the spending plan, which includes more than $300 million in additional k-12 funding, saying the governor’s policy was “dismantling” the education system.

When Carter is pressed to explain the votes, as he often is, he calls it a ploy to divert from his pitch for a separate education budget free from the tinkering of lawmakers. He made that case at a recent campaign event after he was pushed to explain his prior budget votes.

“The bottom line is this: The budgeting process in our state government is broken,” he said. “And there’s no political accountability year after year for the cuts that have been made to public education.”

Carter’s voting history came under scrutiny again in August when he claimed the governor had no philosophy on economic policy after a federal report showed Georgia’s jobless rate was the nation’s second-highest. The Democrat said Deal embraced a “grab bag of economic incentives” that did little to build the economy.

Deal's campaign quickly criticized Carter for his vote in favor of a 2012 tax overhaul package that is the cornerstone of the governor's economic argument to voters. Carter has also supported a range of other piecemeal tax incentives, like many other Democrats, designed to help customers of firms such as luxury jetmaker Gulfstream and airlines such as Delta.

And he voted for legislation Deal signed in April that became a catch-all for special-interest tax breaks. Critics said the "haphazard" tax measures embraced by both parties made it harder to achieve a comprehensive tax overhaul.

The governor's campaign didn't wait long to pounce on a third issue Carter raised. When the Democrat called a press conference to criticize the governor's board appointments in the wake of an Atlanta Journal-Constitution investigation, Deal spokesman Brian Robinson was there to return fire.

He noted that Carter voted to approve Deal’s appointments in 2011, 2012 and 2013. He voted against them in 2014.

Carter said he previously voted to back the board appointees because he believed a governor should be able to choose his own executive team. His spokesman, Bryan Thomas, said Carter also sticks by his other votes, and that his record paints a portrait of “what a good legislator does.”

“Governor Deal lurches from crisis to crisis, never waking up to a problem until a headline threatens his re-election,” Thomas said. “Senator Carter has a vision for Georgia’s future that starts with making sure our schools are funded and middle-class families have an economy that works for them.”

Deal spokeswoman Jen Talaber said the series of votes are part of Carter’s broader pattern of slamming policies he once supported to score political points.

“He criticizes education funding levels but voted for every budget until he decided to run for governor. He says we have a ‘grab bag’ of tax incentives but voted for Governor Deal’s tax reform package,” Talaber said, adding: “His entire campaign — on issue after issue — is based on having it both ways. His rhetoric doesn’t match his record.”

A polarizing prospect

Emory University political scientist Alan Abramowitz said Carter’s prior votes on education spending strike him as “the most glaring inconsistency” of his gubernatorial platform.

“He voted for Deal’s budgets and now he’s criticizing them,” said Abramowitz, who is closely watching the race. “I don’t think it’s going to make a big difference, but since Carter is trying to run on education as his main issue, I would certainly use it if I was running Deal’s campaign.”

The debate seems to have helped polarize supporters on both sides. Lucia Eastham, a one-time Democrat from Calhoun, said Carter’s voting record is a sign he’s “absolutely a flip-flopper” and questioned how he would pay to improve education.

“He would fit what I view the notion of a politician who is using taxpayer dollars as promises for votes,” said Eastham, a 64-year-old retiree, mentioning Carter’s call for an audit and vow to more vigorously pursue tax cheats. “They all do that, but what are you going to do when you run out of money?”

Others, though, said the past votes didn’t matter to them. Elon Butts Osby, a 64-year-old administrative assistant in Atlanta, said Carter’s past ballots only reinforced her decision to support him.

“It doesn’t bother me at all, and I’ll tell you why: You make a decision based on what’s happening in the moment. But things change,” she said. “And I’d rather have someone in there I feel I can trust their decisions. And I trust Jason Carter.”