Deal, Oxendine credit raise questions

By Staff, WTVM.com

January 16, 2010

ATLANTA (AP) - Two leading Republican candidates for governor in Georgia have already turned to hefty bank lines of credit to help pump up their campaign warchests months before the primary in July.

State Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine and U.S. Rep. Nathan Deal have each secured $250,000 lines of credit from local banks whose officials have ties to the candidates. The banks are Brand Banking Co. and the Chattahoochee Bank of Georgia, respectively.

The two candidates are among the top fundraisers in the GOP race to succeed Gov. Sonny Perdue, who cannot seek a third term.

Officials with the banks extending the credit are generous campaign contributors who have poured thousands of dollars into the campaigns, an Associated Press review of campaign documents showed.