Governor’s race enters new phase, with ethics the battleground

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Georgia’s campaign for governor shifted into litigious territory Friday as boosters of Gov. Nathan Deal and his Democratic challenger, Jason Carter, traded complaints over timely fundraisers and politicized tweets in an effort to tar their opponent as unethical.

Republicans have socked Carter, an Atlanta state senator, and his supporters with a range of complaints in recent days as the governor vows to reinvigorate his last bid for public office. It’s ground Carter’s camp is happy to fight over, offering a fresh chance to revive ethics questions swirling around the governor’s 2010 campaign.

It’s also a sign that the ethics commission, vilified by both campaigns, will play an outsized role in this campaign as it vets this volley of complaints, as well as later rounds that are almost assured to come through November.

“Both campaigns are trying to get an upper hand on the ethics issue,” said Kerwin Swint, a Kennesaw State University political scientist.

A burst of complaints

Friday's volley of complaints dates to a March 23 fundraiser held in New York, three days after the legislative session ended, that featured Carter's grandfather former President Jimmy Carter as well as R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe.

Georgia law bars lawmakers and statewide officers from accepting contributions or pledges for campaign cash while the Legislature is in session, meaning Carter and Deal were prohibited from restocking their election piggy banks. It makes an exception for certain events that benefit a political party.

Deal’s campaign took issue with invitations sent out before the session banged to a close that sought pledges of at least $1,000 for the fundraiser. The invitation noted that the event was “paid for and authorized by Carter for Governor, Inc.”

In the complaint, former Republican state Sen. John Douglas said it was a “grossly unethical and illegal” event. Douglas, a member of the Newton County Commission who has donated to Deal’s campaign, said Carter should immediately be forced to return the money raised from the event.

The Democrat’s campaign had a two-pronged response. His aides said the event was proper because it benefited the Democratic Party of Georgia and not the campaign. Campaign manager Matt McGrath called the complaint a “pathetic” attempt to deflect voters’ attention.

And Carter backers prepared their own ethics complaint targeting a fundraiser Deal attended during the legislative session with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, which lists Denise Deal, the governor’s daughter-in-law and campaign fundraiser, as a contact. That event, the governor’s backers say, was organized by the Republican Governors Association and not Deal’s campaign.

The Carter camp also plans to file a complaint that Deal’s campaign sent out invitations to a fundraiser during the legislative session.

Questionable tweets?

In a separate filing, a former GOP operative turned critic of his party filed a request with the Office of Inspector General on Friday to look into the activities of Sasha Dlugolenski, a press aide who works for Deal's government office.

In the complaint, Clint Murphy claims that Dlugolenski violated a state ban on political activity during work time through a series of tweets she sent boosting her boss. The tweets include a response to Democratic social media attacks she sent during working hours saying the governor “cut taxes & budgeted conservatively.”

Murphy called for state investigators to launch a “full, complete and thorough independent review and investigation of this matter.” Deal spokesman Brian Robinson said the tweets Dlugolenski sent during office hours were “issues-based and completely appropriate” efforts to push the governor’s agenda.

And Better Georgia, a left-leaning group that is one of Carter's staunchest defenders, was earlier slapped with two ethics complaints filed by people with ties to the GOP questioning its tax-exempt status. One was rejected while the other is still pending.

Strategic timing

Campaign finance rules are complicated and complaints often take months or even years to be litigated. But the governor has already used questions about the Carter fundraiser as a comeback when reporters ask him about whistleblower lawsuits that claimed his administration forced out the head of the ethics commission for too vigorously probing complaints into his 2010 campaign.

“I’m sure the Deal camp feels a need to go on the offensive after being on the defensive so much of the spring and summer,” said Swint, the Kennesaw State political scientist. “They probably hope that if the Carter camp is dealing with its own ethics-related questions, then the whole issue of ethics may be deflated.”

Indeed, the governor promised a more aggressive approach this week in a conference call involving more than 50 Republican lawmakers. In that call, he vowed to abandon a "somewhat deferential" stance now that November is near.

“I told you this is my last race,” he told the lawmakers. “And we’re not going to leave anything on the table.”

Carter’s campaign, meanwhile, signaled it welcomed the discussion on ethics. In a tweet, McGrath said it looked like the governor’s campaign was ready to focus on the issue.

“Don’t let us stop you,” he wrote.