Max Burns speaks at a political forum at the UGA Chapel. Mr. Burns' opponent, Charles Walker Jr., showed up 45 minutes late to Tuesday's forum. Mr. Burns had finished speaking and left. JEFF BLAKE/MORRIS NEWS SERVICE

Mr. Walker, the Democratic nominee in Georgia's 12th District race, said he was in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday morning, meeting with campaign lawyers about ways to counter the "lies" his Republican opponent is spreading about him.

But when he and his party headed back for Georgia, they got stuck in traffic jams stemming from Tuesday morning's latest sniper shooting in the Washington, D.C., area, he said.

"I couldn't get to my destination," Mr. Walker said after he and his small party walked down to the chapel stage at about 5:15 p.m.

"I apologize to the students of the University of Georgia," he said.

On Monday, Walker staffers had asked officers with UGA's Student Government Association if the debate could be moved to 5 p.m. from the 4 p.m. time both candidates had agreed to. As a compromise, the time was moved to 4:30.

After he arrived at the chapel Tuesday, Mr. Walker said, the doors were locked, an apparent misunderstanding of what SGA Chief of Staff Billy Joyner had told the Walker people earlier: that Mr. Walker would be barred from the debate if he showed up late while the Burns-only debate was still under way.

"We didn't think it would be fair to let Mr. Walker come into the auditorium out of respect to Mr. Burns," he said.

As it turned out, Mr. Burns had already left the stage by the time Mr. Walker arrived, and his tardiness gave Mr. Burns extra time to talk about his candidacy. Mr. Burns gave brief opening and closing statements, in between answering questions from a student panel.

In his comments Tuesday, Mr. Burns said: