Gwinnett Daily Post

LAWRENCEVILLE - State Sen. David Shafer suspended his campaign for lieutenant governor Monday, a week after the incumbent under went back surgery.

Shafer, who entered the race when Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle was campaigning in the 2010 gubernatorial election, said he would instead seek reelection in his Duluth-based Senate seat.

Cagle dropped out of the governor's race last month to battle a degenerative back and nerve ailment, causing fellow Republican Shafer to reconsider.

"I would not have entered the race had it not been an open seat, and there is no point in remaining in it as long as the lieutenant governor is well enough to be a candidate for re-election," Shafer said in a statement. "Public service is, by definition, about serving others, not the positions or titles that we want for ourselves."

Last week, Sen. Eric Johnson, another Republican who had begun the race for lieutenant governor, entered the governor's race.

Matt Reeves, an attorney who was seeking the District 48 Senate seat, agreed to serve on Shafer's reelection campaign.