Where do Republican Gov. Nathan Deal and Democratic state Sen. Jason Carter stand on the issues that are important to Georgians in the race for governor?
K-12 education
Carter: Wants to significantly increase education funding by cutting spending and more vigorously pursuing tax cheats. Wants Georgia to have a separate schools budget — what he calls a "trust fund for education" — that would be free from tinkering lawmakers.
Deal: Calls for more modest increases in education funding and wants to overhaul the 1985 school funding formula that he says has become outdated. Vows to push for expanded charter schools, including exploring a Louisiana model that empowers the state to create charter school districts to improve struggling programs.
Economy
Carter: Supports targeted tax breaks but says the state needs to do a better job tracking them to determine whether they work. Wants to expand incentives for small businesses, and says better job training and improved schools will boost Georgia's bottom line. Vows not to raise taxes.
Deal: Promises to make it easier for Georgia firms to win state contracts and plans to make it easier for students seeking high-demand skills to go to technical colleges. Pledges to maintain Georgia's top-tier AAA bond rating and to promote workforce development initiatives. Vows not to raise taxes.
Ethics
Carter: Claims Georgia has "inadequate" ethics laws and lax enforcement. Supports a plan to broaden the state ethics commission to reduce conflicts of interests. Promises to disclose donor history and conflicts of interest of his appointments.
Deal: Backs a proposal to overhaul the ethics agency, which he calls "dysfunctional," and allow the three branches of government to each appoint four members of the commission. Says he will also support increasing the watchdog agency's funding.
Health care
Carter: Wants to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, casting it as a fiscal necessity. Says he would explore an Arkansas-style private option, which uses federal funds to buy insurance for the poor, but he has offered no specifics.
Deal: Rejects Medicaid expansion and says it would inevitably cost Georgia billions of dollars in new spending. Says he'll continue to push to seek block grant funding for Medicaid so Georgia can receive its "fair share" without boosting state spending.
HOPE Scholarship
Carter: Says HOPE scholarship is "vanishing" and has advocated for an income cap for the program that would grant full tuition to needier students.
Deal: Says changes to the program adopted in his first term "saved" HOPE by cutting costs. Wants to pay full technical school tuition through the scholarship for students in more high-demand areas.
Infrastructure
Carter: Wants to revive the idea of a regional sales tax for infrastructure improvements, though he has offered no specifics on what that plan would look like.
Deal: Wants to start the dredging of Savannah's port by the year's end. Pledges to focus on highest-need transportation projects, such as overhauling the I-285/Ga. 400 interchange and adding new toll lanes on congested highways.
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