The grandson of former president Jimmy Carter wants to run for the White House himself, says Georgia governor Nathan Deal. Jason Carter, a young Democratic state senator from Decatur, is challenging the Republican Deal in a close race. Speaking at a rally in Dahlonega, the 72-year-old Deal told the crowd that his Democratic opponent wants to follow in his grandfather’s footsteps.
Greg Bluestein of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports:
The Atlanta state senator, grandson of former President Jimmy Carter, is trying to follow in his grandpa’s footsteps from the Senate chamber to the governor’s mansion. He has said nothing about higher ambitions.
Deal has been making this argument for some time, according to Georgia Republicans. At a recent fundraising dinner, the incumbent governor pitched himself as the “roadblock” to the younger Carter:
The roadblock, that is, to Democrat Jason Carter, grandson of the former president and Georgia governor Jimmy. At 39 years old, with just four years in the state senate, Carter petit-fils is challenging Deal for governor and making a good run of it, too. Polls have consistently shown Deal with less than 50 percent support, and more than a few have him losing to Carter. As recently as September, one poll had Carter with a 3-point lead, winning independents and even a tenth of Republicans. The specter of a Carter dynasty—Jason is the first elected official in the family since Jimmy left the White House—is the kind of thing that keeps Georgia Republicans up at night.
Read the whole thing here.
Deal leads Carter by 1.6 points in the Real Clear Politics average of polls, and the race remains a toss-up.
