Special to The Gazette
TIFTON — State Rep. Austin Scott (R-Tifton) and two other Republican candidates for governor have responded to statements made by Republican gubernatorial candidate Karen Handel that her male opponents can’t be trusted to mop up the wreckage they created.
“The guys in the race can’t — and won’t — clean up the mess,” the former secretary of state told about 250 mostly female supporters at an Atlanta fundraiser Tuesday. “They’ve been part of the good old boy network that’s created this mess.”
Georgia’s ruling Republicans have been reeling since House Speaker Glenn Richardson stepped down following a suicide attempt and allegations of an affair with a utility lobbyist.
Handel was the only GOP gubernatorial candidate to call for Richardson to step down and has sought since then to claim the ethics mantle heading into an election year where the issue of bad behavior is likely to grab the spotlight. Twelve candidates have lined up to replace Sonny Perdue in the governor’s mansion when his second term expires.
Handel was introduced Tuesday by former Rear Admiral Marsha “Marty” Evans, who led an investigation into the U.S. Navy Tailhook sexual harassment scandal in the early 1990s. Evans called Handel the only candidate in the race who is not “ethically challenged.” Republicans in the race balked at that.
Scott stated in his press release, “Mrs. Handel’s comments today are misguided because, in fact, she accepted more money from lobbyists in 2009 than I have accepted over the past five years combined. I am not corrupt, nor are the vast majority of my colleagues. Furthermore, she has one of the most entrenched lobbyists in the state heading up her campaign fundraising efforts. As for me, I have already returned every contribution made by lobbyists to this campaign, and I respectfully submit that Mrs. Handel and all candidates for governor should join me in doing so. The Georgia taxpayer should be the first priority of every candidate for governor. There will be only one special interest in the Scott administration. The Georgia taxpayers.”
State Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine said, “if you want a candidate that will resort to negative personal attacks I am not your candidate.”
Ben Fry, a spokesman for Eric Johnson, said the former state senator from Savannah, “has a long and proven record of fighting for tougher ethics law and will continue to do so as governor.”
The Associate Press contributed to this article.
