ATLANTA -- Democrat Carol Porter says she decided to run for lieutenant governor to fight what she calls a "culture of corruption" at the Georgia Capitol.

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Associated Press

Democrat Carol Porter said the economy would be her top priority if she were elected Lieutenant Governor.

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Porter is the wife of DuBose Porter, the state House minority leader who made an unsuccessful bid for the Democratic nomination for governor. Carol Porter, 51, said she was happy running her husband's campaigns while raising four Eagle Scouts and then overseeing the couple's newspaper publishing business. But she decided to run when she saw no strong opposition to Republican incumbent Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle.. Libertarian candidate Dan Barber is also running.

The economy would be her top priority if elected, Porter said.

"More people into the work force is the No. 1 goal and creating financial mobility for those that are there," she said.

Education also is high on her list, she said, because that's what helps people get jobs. The answer is not pouring more money into the state's school systems, but focusing more on job skills and life skills in lower grades and partnering high schools with community colleges and technical colleges so students are ready when they graduate to either get a job or continue their education.

Porter said her roots in rural middle Georgia and the time she has spent with her husband at the Capitol make her the ideal person to bridge the gap between Atlanta and residents in less urban areas who sometimes think Atlanta gets too much money and attention from the Legislature.

"We need someone like me to explain to rural Georgia that it's not urban versus rural, it's Georgia trying to get along in a global economy," she said, adding that it's not good for anyone if the state's biggest city and major economic engine is gridlocked and without water.

A poll last month showed Porter getting 28 percent of the vote compared with 47 percent for Cagle. The poll, conducted by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research Inc. for 13 daily newspapers with readership across Georgia, had an error margin of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

As of June 30, Porter had more than $142,000 on hand, compared with Cagle's more than $844,000. New financial disclosure reports were due Thursday, but candidates have a five-day grace period, and neither Cagle or Porter had submitted their filings to the State Ethics Commission by Friday evening.

Barber had about $1,000 on hand by Thursday.

Porter has been relying on social networking, the media and her own travels around the state to get out her message.

Her experience as general manager of nine Georgia newspapers has taught her business skills that can easily transfer to government, she said. It has also given her insight into the communities her papers serve and the small business owners who advertise with her.

She also has political savvy, having managed her husband's campaigns for years. Her unique position as "a non-incumbent with 26 years of political experience" makes her the best candidate, she said.