Karen Handel

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Karen Handel (born April 30, 1962, in Nashville, Tennessee) is the current Republican Secretary of State of Georgia. She officially announced in March 2009 that she would be entering the governor's race in the state.[1]

Political career

Handel served as Deputy Chief of Staff to Vice President Dan Quayle's wife, Marilyn, in 1989 promoting breast cancer awareness. It was during this time that initiatives like October becoming National Breast Cancer Month, the National Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure was established, federal funding for breast cancer research was increased, and the Office of Research on Women's Health was established at the National Institute of Health.

She served as President and CEO of the Greater Fulton County Chamber of Commerce, where she was directly responsible for working with state, local, national and international organizations to bring job growth to north Fulton County. During her tenure, Handel discovered that the GNDC Chamber was near fiscal insolvency after an employee was found to have embezzled nearly all of the chamber's funds, and successfully managed the once-troubled organization through financial turbulence

In 2002, she was named Deputy Chief of Staff in the administration of Governor Sonny Perdue, where she served as a policy advisor and supervisor of constituent services, the Governor's Mansion, and general administration services.

Handel was elected by the public in a special election held in November 2003 to replace Mike Kenn as Chairman of the Fulton County Commission. She received both state and national media attention for exposing corruption within the sheriff's department that, in turn, led to the incumbent sheriff's resignation. It was also during her tenure that she was able to pass the strongest county government ethic policies in the state.

Electoral history

2006 Race for Secretary of State - Republican Primary[2]
Candidates Percentage
Handel (R) 43.6%[3]
Stephens (R) 32.6%
Bailey (R) 13.8%
Martin (R) 10.0%
Total votes 100%
2006 Race for Secretary of State - Republican Primary Run-Off[4]
Candidates Percentage
Handel (R) 56.6%
Stephens (R) 43.4%
Total votes 100%
2006 Race for Secretary of State - General Election[5]
Candidates Percentage
Handel (R) 54.1%
Buckner (D) 41.8%
Madsen (Libertarian) 4.1%
Total votes 100%

Contact information

214 State Capitol
Atlanta, Georgia 30334

Telephone: 404-656-2881
Fax: 404-656-0513

External links

References

  1. Fresh Loaf "Karen Handel enters governor’s race" 27 March, 2009
  2. Georgia Secretary of State - 2006 Republican Primary Election Results
  3. Even though Karen Handel received the most votes, she failed to receive over fifty percent of those votes required by Georgia state law. A run-off election between the top two vote recipients, therefore, was required to decide who went on to the general election.
  4. Georgia Secretary of State - 2006 Republican Primary Run-Off Election Results
  5. Georgia Secretary of State - 2006 General Election Results

Portions of this article were adapted from Wikipedia.

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