MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) - State Agriculture Commissioner Ron
Sparks says he has repaid a $500,000 loan that put his Democratic
campaign for governor in a spotlight he didn't want.

The loan had raised questions about how he could provide
$500,000 because the personal financial statements that Sparks
filed each year with the State Ethics Commission showed little
income beyond his state salary

Sparks says his campaign never needed the money and he was able
to repay the Montgomery bank that provided the loan to him. He
issued a statement reiterating his earlier comments that no one
co-signed the loan with him.

Sparks' Democratic primary opponent, Artur Davis, had called the
loan curious and Sparks' explanation of it evasive.

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)