GA Representative Tom Price endorses Karen Handel!

Georgia candidate for Governor, Karen Handel received a welcome endorsement today from Georgia Congressman Tom Price (R-6th).  It was a reversal for Representative Price who had previously given his support to former Georgia Congressman Nathan Deal.  From The Washington Examiner:

A Republican congressman said Monday he's swapping endorsements in the race for governor, dropping Nathan Deal and backing Karen Handel instead.

Tom Price called Handel "the best opportunity we as Republicans and conservatives in this state have for retaining the governor's position."

In an interview with The Associated Press, Price, of Roswell, said Deal's campaign "didn't go as many had hoped." He said he called Deal about a month ago and said he was withdrawing his support.

"A lot can happen in the turns and quirks of a campaign over a year's time," Price said.

Deal has been dogged by ethics allegations since entering the race last year. His auto salvage business' no-bid contract with the state prompted an ethics probe by congressional investigators. The investigation ended in March when Deal resigned from Congress, a move he said was designed to allow him to devote his energies full time to winning the GOP nomination for governor.

Price declined to elaborate on his specific concerns, saying, "my preference is to build up individuals."

Handel caused a bit of a dustup in the Republican gubernatorial race earlier this month when she announced at a GOP debate that she would no longer participate in debates that included candidate Ray McBerry.  Here's an excerpt from Jim Galloway's "Political Insider" colulmn in The Atlanta-Journal Constitution:

There was an awkward moment toward the end. You’ll remember this column from Friday, describing the relationship between McBerry and a Henry County girl that started when she had just finished 10th grade.

She and her parents, on the record, say that the relationship became sexual. He denies touching her – but he quit his teaching job when the charges were lodged, and a judge ordered him to stay away from the young lady for six months.

In his closing remarks, McBerry said this:

“In the last month, I’ve found out why good people rarely get involved in politics anymore. I’ve had more lies said about me in the last month than I’ve had in my entire life of 42 years.

“And I’m here to tell you today that the liberal media, including our esteemed moderator today, can say whatever he wants to say about this businessman and daddy that’s running for governor here in Georgia. But I’m running because I have the same principles as our founding fathers.

“And I wear it as a badge of honor to be the strongest conservative in this race, and that’s why the liberal media wants us out of this race. It ain’t gonna happen.”

Johnson spoke. And then Handel gave her closing remarks, first dinging Deal for a congressional ethics investigation in which he was the target. Then she said this:

“When our party has faltered, it’s been because we’ve strayed from our conservative principles, we’ve lost our moral compass, when we’ve put our heads in the sand and turned a blind eye to the wrongdoing within our own party and refused to deal with it.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I refuse to be one of those folks.

Today, while I’ve enjoyed this immensely, this will be the last time that I’ll be on any stage with Ray McBerry. And I think you all know why.

“This is embarrassing for our state, and it’s embarrassing for our party. It should be for him as well. And it should be for anyone else up here who’s under ethical investigation.”

Kudos to Karen Handel for drawing a line in the sand for ethics and integrity, and to my representative, Dr. Tom Price, for having the courage to change his endorsement.

He got it right.