The Hill News

The candidates seeking to become Georgia's next governor sparred over tort reform, embryonic stem cell research and healthcare reform during their first debate since the primaries earlier this month, according to a report from the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

Former Democratic Congressman Nathan Deal, Republican nominee Roy Barnes and Libertarian candidate John Monds appeared together for the first time Saturday in Atlanta, where the discussion centered heavily around healthcare issues. Barnes previously served as the state's governor from 1999 to 2003 before losing his re-election bid to Republican Sonny Perdue. Perdue, a two-term incumbent, is term-limited.

Barnes and Deal agreed on the need to create incentives to attract physicians to the rural portion of the state, but differed over a March state Supreme Court ruling that struck down a limits on jury awards in medical malpractice cases. Deal said he favors amending the Constitution to re-institute the limits. Barnes, an attorney who has tried medical malpractice cases in the past, said he is strongly opposed to such a measure.

"Generally, the jury does the right thing," Barnes said. "Occasionally, they get cranked up and don't. And in those cases we give judges the right to correct that."

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