TRENTON, Ga. – Republican gubernatorial candidate Nathan Deal says he stands with womens’ rights and says new ads that suggest otherwise do not reflect his record clearly.
On the trail Monday in Dade County to open a new $3 million courthouse complex, Deal slammed the ad and his opponent, former Democratic Gov. Roy Barnes.
“It’s the most misleading campaign message I have ever seen,” said Deal, a former North Georgia congressman.
Barnes’ latest ad, which depicts a rape scene in a parking lot, alleges that Deal, in 1991 as a state senator, removed key components of the state’s rape shield law, which allows rape victims to not have to not testify about their sex life and lifestyles.
“I’m the one, as a former prosecutor, that sent rapists to prison, and certainly I have never done anything to jeopardize the ability to prosecute someone who has committed such a heinous crime,” Deal said Tuesday.
At the time of the Senate vote, Deal was a criminal defense attorney. The Barnes campaign stood by the ad as accurate Tuesday.
“Roy stands with the prosecutors, police and women who fought against this bill,” said spokeswoman Anna Ruth Williams.
Deal said Barnes was on the Senate committee that vetted the bill, and the law change was an effort to make Georgia’s statute conform with court opinions on rules of evidence.
Barnes “was not even in the Legislature when Congressman Deal introduced and tried to pass [the bill],” Williams said. “Roy would never have supported a bill that gutted Georgia’s rape shield law and strip[ped] women of their basic protections.”
According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the law also would have required children to submit to an oath before testifying in court. Judges now have the discretion on whether to require the oath.
Georgia polls show a close contest between the veteran politicians, though Barnes never has climbed past Deal in the polls. An Oct. 11 InsiderAdvantage, WSB-TV sampling found Deal leading with 49 percent to Barnes’ 41 percent. A Libertarian candidate, John Monds, had 3 percent. Seven percent of survey participants were undecided.
Georgia early voting started Sept. 20 and runs until Oct. 29. Election Day is Nov. 2.