Atlanta newspaper says Nathan Deal faces big debt

ATLANTA - Republican gubernatorial candidate Nathan Deal has run into financial trouble after backing a failed business venture by one of his daughters and her husband, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Wednesday.

Deal and his wife, Sandra, invested about $2 million in the venture, a sporting goods store in northeast Georgia, the newspaper reported on Wednesday.

The newspaper said Deal and his wife lost their entire stake when the business failed. The Deals also guaranteed a series of bank loans to the business and wound up with financial responsibility after their daughter and son-in-law, Carrie Deal Wilder and Clint Wilder, declared bankruptcy, the newspaper reported.

Deal's campaign issued a statement, saying, ``Like most Americans, Nathan Deal has suffered financial losses over the last four years. He has obligations, and he will meet them,'' according to the newspaper

``He lost $2 million off the top, and there's another $2 million he's on the hook for,'' Brian Robinson, a spokesman for Deal's campaign, told the newspaper.
The newspaper reported that a bank loan of $2.3 million comes due in full on Feb. 1.

The store, Wilder Outdoors, opened for business in Baldwin on Nov. 24, 2006. By the time it had been open seven months, the store had accumulated debt totaling almost $1.8 million, the newspaper reported. It closed on March 31, 2009.