Cagle, Porter lash out at ethics complaint

ATLANTA - The leading candidates for Lt. Governor in Georgia Sunday night each criticized the the 11th-hour ethics complaint made against the incumbent, Casey Cagle.

Northwest Georgia businessman Ray Boyd, who backs Democrat Carol Porter in the race, filed the complaint, alleging the Gainesville Republican had an affair with one of his staffers and paid her $200,000 in campaign funds.

During a debate Sunday night hosted by the Atlanta Press Club, Cagle said the allegations are "hurtful. It's hurtful for my wife who is sitting in the audience. It's hurtful for my three boys who sit there as well."

Porter again said she had nothing to do with getting Boyd to file the complaint as the Cagle camp has alleged and Cagle said in a statement from his campaign Friday night after the story broke that the allegations were not true. (See earlier story.)