The race for

state Senate from the 34th District is heating up in Fayette County, as

candidates traded charges this week.

Republican

candidate Bryan Hilton opened the exchange by accusing Democratic incumbent

Greg Hecht of deceptive campaigning through a "sham" organization

called "Republicans for Hecht."

Hecht Monday

labeled the charge "pure fiction" and leveled a series of his

own charges at Hilton, with both candidates pinning each other with the

"big government" label.

"Republicans

for Hecht," said Hilton, "is part of a strategy by the Democratic

Party to mislead some voters into thinking that my opponent is the Republican

candidate. We have seen several Democratic candidates in the district

use this deceptive tactic in order to offset the negative effects of their

party affiliation."

"There

is no such organization or tactic," Hecht said. "It's [the charge

that he used a sham organization] a generic piece put out statewide by

the Republican Party," he said, adding that he has seen similar charges

leveled in campaigns in other parts of the state.

"I am

conservative, and I appreciate a lot of Republican support which I receive

every year," he said, but added that there is no group affiliated

with his campaign that goes by the name "Republicans for Hecht."

He challenged Hilton to "come up with a name and a time."

Hilton supporter

Jean Studdard told The Citizen Tuesday that a Hecht supporter canvassing

her Huntington Court neighborhood did identify himself as a Republican

after she had identified herself as one, but said she didn't remember

him using the term "Republicans for Hecht."

Hilton said

Studdard was one of several supporters who have told him about the tactic.

In a press

release, Hilton also accused Hecht of votes "to weaken local control

and our quality of life, to increase his own pension, while rejecting

property tax cuts."

Hecht pointed

to his votes for a seven-year, $660 million property tax cut through a

gradual increase in the homestead exemption to $50,000, and a $205 million

state income tax cut, plus the fact that he was co-author of a bill to

increase the tax exemption for seniors by $1,300 as evidence that he is

fiscally conservative.

Hecht also

voted for a moratorium on unemployment taxes that is expected to save

businesses $1 billion, and a $128 million cut in the grocery sales taxes.

And the vote

to increase legisltors' pensions did not apply to current, sitting legislators,

he said.

Hilton complained

that the tax cuts Hecht has supported are spread over several years, with

very little relief in the current year. "A tax cut deferred is a

tax cut denied," he said.

On the other

hand, Hecht charged his opponent with proposing a property tax for the

city of Lithia Springs for the first time in the city's history when he

served as its mayor in 1999 and early 2000.

"He is

a taxer. His opinion as to how to solve problems is to raise taxes,"

said Hecht, adding that Hilton instigated the Lithia Springs tax in order

to build a new city hall and give himself a raise.

Untrue, said

Hilton. He opposed the creation of property taxes and the budget that

would have made them necessary, refusing to sign the budget into law,

he said.

The reason

the city treasurer submitted a proposal for a property tax, he said, is

because of unfunded mandates from the state, mandates he blamed Hecht

for.

"That's

one of the reasons I'm running for office in the first place," said

Hilton. He became frustrated with trying to run a small town government

with so much interference from the state, he said, adding that's why he

quit his job as mayor after a year and a half to run for Senate.

"These

are things my opponent voted for," he said. "They passed laws

setting a certain level of [city] services that met state standards, whereas

the contract services that we were providing were acceptable to the people

in that area.

"The people

of Lithia Springs liked things just the way they were," he said,

calling for greater local control.