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ATLANTA - Sarah Palin's dropping into Georgia to weigh in on the state's increasingly bitter Republican gubernatorial battle, one day before the primary runoff election.

According to the campaign of GOP candidate Karen Handel, Palin will team up with Georgia's former secretary of state at a get out the vote campaign rally on Monday August 9. The next day Handel faces off against former Rep. Nathan Deal in the runoff contest.

Handel was endorsed before the July 20 primary by the former Alaska governor and 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee. Palin's backing appeared to quiet some on the right who criticized Handel as not being conservative enough and appeared to help Handel rise in the final polls conducted before the primary.

Handel came out on top in that contest, capturing 34 percent of the vote in an eight candidate field. Deal finished second with 23 percent of the vote.

Since no candidate won 50 percent, the top two finishers moved onto an August 10 runoff. Since the primary, former Republican presidential hopeful and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has also endorsed Handel. Deal has the backing of former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

''I'm coming to Georgia to campaign with my friend Karen because it is absolutely critical that Georgians nominate an ethical leader and a true conservative,'' says Palin in a statement released by the Handel campaign.

That statement and a new Handel commercial that describes her opponent as ''a corrupt relic of Washington, DC'' may be referring to accusations that Deal used his position in politics to make deals with the state of Georgia that earned him hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Deal denies any wrongdoing and his campaign criticizes Handel for her ''line of attack'' and says she has ''no new ideas for Georgia.''

The winner of the Republican runoff will face off in November against former Gov. Roy Barnes, who easily captured the Democratic gubernatorial nomination.

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