Education and economy leads lieutenant governor debate

ATLANTA - With the state suffering from a weakened economy and SAT scores falling from 49th in the nation to 50th, candidates in the lieutenant governor&#39;s race found little to agree on Sunday night as they ripped into each other on everything from education to transportation.<br> <br> GOP candidate Steve Stancil accused Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor of &#34;trying to put on a new face&#34; when it came to education, ethics and the economy.<br> <br> Taylor accused Stancil of voting against the creation of the Georgia Lottery Corp. in 1992, which created the HOPE scholarship. Stancil returned by saying Taylor was &#34;in the process of wrecking Georgia&#39;s public schools,&#34; and said he was proud of all of his votes.<br> <br> The debate, sponsored by the Atlanta Press Club and broadcast live on public television stations across Georgia, lasted a half hour and switched between letting the candidates question each other and answering questions from a panel of three journalists.<br> <br> Education was among the hot topics the candidates debated.<br> <br> Taylor pledged to protect the HOPE scholarship program, dismissing statements that the state&#39;s lottery profits may not be able to keep the program going.<br> <br> &#34;The HOPE scholarship is in great shape,&#34; he said.<br> <br> Taylor also said education was key to drawing large companies like DaimlerChrysler to the state. The company recently announced the creation of a new plant near Savannah which will likely create 3,300 new jobs, adding comfort to an area that had seen a decade of healthy expansion but was hit hard by the economic downturn.<br> <br> &#34;We are excited about the announcement of DaimlerChrysler and it&#39;s indicative of the progress that we are making,&#34; Taylor said, adding that investments in Georgia&#39;s ports and transportation systems needed to be made to keep attracting large companies.<br> <br> Taylor also talked up a bill he pushed through the General Assembly last year that erases the statute of limitations on violent crimes so that DNA evidence found years after a crime could still be used in court.<br> <br> Libertarian candidate Herbert Galloway said if he were elected to the position, he would demand state legislators work to vote on bills, rather than tabling them - a political tactic used as a way of blocking legislation without directly voting to reject it.<br>