When the Georgia Republican Party sent out a campaign mailer claiming Atlanta Democrat Josh McLaurin was the subject of “ongoing criminal investigations,” McLaurin decided the Republicans crossed a line.

An associate with Atlanta's Krevolin & Horst, McLaurin said the attack by Republican allies of his opponent, attorney Alex Kaufman of Sandy Springs firm Kaufman & Forman, left him “dismayed.”

“Not the idea that I might lose, but they are damaging the entire system,” said McLaurin who has put Georgia GOP Chairman John Watson on notice that the mailer contained false statements made knowingly and with malice. That is a possible prelude to a libel suit, even though McLaurin is a public figure while running for office.