Karen Handel
Karen Christine Handel (née Walker; born April 18, 1962) is an American businesswoman and politician. A member of the Republican Party, Handel served as chair of the Fulton County Board of Commissioners from 2003 to 2006, as Secretary of State of Georgia from 2007 to 2010, and in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2017 to 2019.
Karen Handel | |
|---|---|
Official portrait, 2017 | |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Georgia's 6th district | |
| In office June 26, 2017 – January 3, 2019 | |
| Preceded by | Tom Price |
| Succeeded by | Lucy McBath |
| 26th Secretary of State of Georgia | |
| In office January 13, 2007 – January 8, 2010 | |
| Governor | Sonny Perdue |
| Preceded by | Cathy Cox |
| Succeeded by | Brian Kemp |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Karen Christine Walker April 18, 1962 Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse |
Steve Handel (m. 1992) |
In 2010, Handel ran for Governor of Georgia but narrowly lost the Republican primary to Nathan Deal, who attacked Handel as overly supportive of gay rights and abortion rights. In 2011, Handel was appointed Senior Vice President of public policy at Susan G. Komen for the Cure, a charity focused on fighting breast cancer. Handel pushed the charity to cut off Komen's funding for breast-cancer screening at Planned Parenthood, reportedly because of her personal anti-abortion views. In the ensuing uproar over politicization of the charity, Handel resigned from Komen in February 2012.
In 2017, Handel became the first Republican woman from Georgia elected to Congress after winning a special election to fill a vacancy in Georgia's 6th congressional district. In the 2018 general election, Handel narrowly lost her seat to Democrat Lucy McBath. On November 3, 2020, Handel lost to McBath in a rematch, earning a lower percentage of the vote than she did in 2018.