The gloves came off in the Democratic race for U.S. Senate at approximately 1:45 p.m. Tuesday, a few hours after Sarah Riggs Amico made it a three-way race.
Up until then, the contest between former Columbus Mayor Teresa Tomlinson and Clarkston Mayor Ted Terry was a mostly polite one, at least publicly.
That changed when Amico, last year's runner-up for lieutenant governor, announced her candidacy to the AJC. Terry took aim not at her company's recent bankruptcy, but her past support of GOP candidates. Amico has often said she's a "recovering Republican" who decided to side with Democrats after the 2012 presidential election.
"I was proud to support Barack Obama when he ran for re-election, it's unfortunate that not all of my opponents feel the same way," Terry wrote above a screenshot of Amico's $973 in contributions to Republican Mitt Romney in 2012.
Tomlinson's campaign manager, Kendra Cotton, echoed with a GIF tweet: "Those are the facts."
Pressed for more comment, Terry told us this: “It’s a slap in the face to everyone, including me, who worked our asses off to elect and re-elect our first black president. Wasn’t it Mitch McConnell’s mission to make Barack Obama a one term president?”
But Terry didn’t stop there. After Amico’s first campaign event came at a picket line supporting striking AT&T workers, he tweeted a string of photos of him supporting organized labor.
"Remember that most politicians are full of sh*t. Don't just believe what they say, look at what they've done, and then you will know where they stand," he said on social media.
Republicans piled on, too. Beyond the expected attacks mocking the bankruptcy of Amico's car-hauling firm, U.S. Sen. David Perdue's allies also pointed out that the Teamsters union accused her firm of unfair labor practices in February.
And here's what Sarah Riggs Amico had to say about her two Democratic rivals:
"Look, there's no question they have been in office. But they've also never run statewide. They've never had to weather a private company and protect thousands of jobs through turbulent economic times. As far as I know, neither one of them has managed a business that's dealing with the fallout of the trade wars or the pension crisis.
"I'm in a unique position not only to be able to speak to economic opportunity and how we build something that works for everybody, but to talk specifically about the failures of the GOP-led Senate on issues like trade and pension reform."
Insider’s note: This item was ripped from the Daily Jolt.
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