Deborah Mack, who got two checks totaling $800, said she didn't want to feel obligated to Cole's position on issues should she win her election Tuesday against Don Whitmire.
"We may be working together and I don't want it to seem as though my votes are being obligated to. I talked with my campaign committee people about it and they also felt the same way that I did, that we shouldn't receive it," Mack said.
Linda Reynolds Martinez got a $500 contribution from Cole, and, she, too, is returning it, a campaign spokesman said Friday.
Questions have been raised in some circles about Cole's campaign contrributions to commission candidates since accessnorthga.com revealed Tuesday that he had given $1,000 to Deborah Lynn, who is running in Tuesday's Republican Primary against incumbent commissioner Brenda Branch. Sue Gibbs, the wife of commission chairman Gary Gibbs, has also given Lynn $1,000.
Cole and Gibbs defended their contributions by saying they were, in part, in response to the public support and endorsement and contributions Branch made in 2000 to one of Gibbs' Republican Primary opponents. Branch denied Thursday that she publicy supported or endorsed anyone in that race and says she never contributed money to anyone running against Gibbs.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2002/8/191233