In an interview with The Associated Press that touched on issues from immigration to predatory lending, Barnes said the lucrative arrangement Deal's auto salvage business had with the state was a "serious error of judgment."
"And we have the right to demand our highest elected officials that they not benefit themselves while in public office," the Democrat told The AP.
"I'm disappointed and it pains me to say that, quite frankly, but I think it disqualifies him."
Deal, a former congressman from Gainesville, has denied any wrongdoing.
His spokesman Brian Robinson said Wednesday that Barnes was trying to draw attention away from his "liberal arrogance" and served as "a character witness for his liberal Senate crony Charles Walker who went to prison for 127 counts of corruption" in 2005.
"I'd say that makes Barnes unfit to serve Georgia in any capacity," Robinson said.
Earlier this year, the Office of Congressional Ethics found Deal may have violated House rules by using his position to lobby state officials on behalf of the auto salvage company, which earned $1.5 million from 2004 to 2008 through the state contract. Word also surfaced recently that the state's revenue commissioner received a federal grand jury subpoena last month related to his 2009 meeting with Deal over a state program affecting the company.
Deal says he has not be told he is the target of the investigation.
Barnes said he and Deal were friends when they served together in the state Senate for a decade in the 1980s. At the time Deal was a Democrat. He swapped parties in 1995 and became a Republican as the Republican revolution was under way led by fellow Georgian Newt Gingrich.
"I think he became Gingrichized," Barnes said. "This is not the Nathan Deal I knew."
Barnes was ousted in 2002 after a single term as governor.
Deal won the GOP nomination after narrowly winning an Aug. 10 runoff.
Barnes declined to say whether he would support amending the U.S. Constitution to end automatic citizenship to children born to illegal immigrants in the country, saying he needs to give the issue more study.
"I don't have a firm opinion on it right now," he said.
In Congress, Deal was the lead sponsor for several years of legislation to end automatic citizenship. The movement has gained momentum since he left the U.S. House in March.
Barnes did say he thought officials should exercise caution in changing the 14th Amendment, which was the basis for striking down desegregation in public schools.
But he added that, "it's offensive to me to think that there might be folks that are coming here just to have children to give them the citizenship and to give them the public support."
Barnes said he believes a law he muscled through in 2002 that would crack down on predatory lending would have alleviated Georgia's foreclosure crisis. Republicans overturned the law weeks after Barnes left office.
"I'm not going to tell you we would've been immune, but I don't think we would've been in the top five (in foreclosures)," Barnes said.
Barnes called the law - which drew opposition across the financial services industry - the toughest one he pushed through, harder even then his efforts to shrink the Confederate battle symbol on Georgia's flag.
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