Ethics talk heats up Georgia governor's race

ATLANTA (AP) -- The state ethics commission and all its staffing issues, lawsuits and allegations of outside influence have quickly become a key issue in this year's governor's race.

Gov. Nathan Deal this week proposed an overhaul of the commission, a few days after a civil jury found in favor of a former commission employee who claimed retaliation for investigating the Republican governor's 2010 campaign reports.

That prompted Democratic rival Jason Carter on Tuesday to criticize Deal for failing to support an overhaul until now. Carter also called for the commission to reopen its Deal investigation, saying the verdict raised questions about how it was resolved.

Deal, in an interview, defended the proposal as in the works before the verdict. Deal says he was cleared of major ethics violations after an exhaustive investigation.