LABOR COMMISSIONER

The two candidates for state labor commissioner engaged in a sharp debate that included hostile exchanges over treatment of the unemployed and the disabled.

Democratic incumbent Michael Thurmond, 53, an Athens attorney who has held the office since 1998, sought to describe his tenure as one that had transformed the state Labor Department from "a pencil-and-paper operation" to one that gets "Georgians back to work four weeks quicker than the national average."

But Republican challenger Brent Brown, 35, a businessman who was defeated by Thurmond four years ago, accused the incumbent of neglecting the hard-core unemployed — minority youth and the disabled.

"You have focused on ... five percent of the work force. That's the easy part to focus on," Brown said.

The Republican also said that the state's unemployment network has become "an underground welfare system in some parts of our state" that penalizes small businesses.

Thurmond was able to get Brown to concede that unemployment benefits had risen under his direction, that the fund protecting those payments was rated well and that businesses had received a $172 million reduction in taxes as a result.

But Brown continued to press Thurmond on what he said was the Democrat's failure to address an unemployment rate of 41 percent among minority youth and 50 percent among the disabled.

"You've had eight years, Michael. How many more do you need?" Brown asked.

When pressed, Brown admitted he could not say precisely how many disabled workers there are in Georgia.