RATINGS CHANGES: GEORGIA, PENNSYLVANIA, TENNESSEE AND WEST VIRGINIA
Two statewide southerners are seeing their fortunes move in opposite directions, while the weight of both a party label and a barrage of negative advertising look increasingly likely to sink one of the longest-serving members of the House. Here are this week’s Crystal Ball ratings changes in four gubernatorial, Senate and House contests. Table 1: Crystal Ball ratings changes GEORGIA (GOVERNOR): Gov. Nathan Deal (R), who has dealt with numerous ethical questions over the years (not to mention orchestrating a horrible response to Atlanta’s 2014 ice storm), got another bad headline late last week: A jury found that the former director of the state ethics commission was forced out of office as retribution for investigating Deal’s 2010 gubernatorial campaign. The former director, Stacey Kalberman, will receive $700,000 as a result of the ruling. This story will likely linger: On Monday morning, Jim Galloway and other reporters at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution posted a piece headlined “Friday’s verdict just the beginning of trial trouble for Nathan Deal.” They note that other former ethics commission staffers have made similar claims as Kalberman, which could keep the controversy in the headlines for months. Meanwhile, state Sen. Jason Carter (D) is raising an impressive amount of