Atlanta attorney Stacey Evans has made good on her threat to sue the state Republican Party for libel on behalf of a Democratic candidate for the state House of Representatives, who she contends was intentionally smeared by party mailers.

Evans, a former state legislator who unsuccessfully sought the Democratic gubernatorial nomination earlier this year, filed the lawsuit late Tuesday in Fulton County State Court on behalf of Democrat Josh McLaurin, an attorney with Atlanta’s Krevolin & Horst who is running for a seat in House District 51. McLaurin is challenging Republican Sandy Springs attorney Alex Kaufman of Kaufman & Forman for a seat vacated by Republican lawyer Wendell Willard, the longtime chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. Willard anointed Kaufman as his successor.