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.
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.
Early life and education
Handel was born Karen Christine Walker in Washington, D. C., on April 18, 1962, and grew up in Upper Marlboro, Maryland. After graduating in May 1980 from Frederick Douglass High School in Upper Marlboro, Handel attended both Prince George's Community College, in Largo, Maryland, and the University of Maryland, University College, in Adelphi, Maryland, but did not earn a degree. She then went to work for Hallmark Cards. Later, she served as deputy chief of staff to Vice President Dan Quayle's wife, Marilyn, where she worked to promote breast cancer awareness and research.
Handel worked at several major companies, including the global eye-care company Ciba Vision and the international accounting firm KPMG. She served as president and CEO of the Greater Fulton County Chamber of Commerce. From December 2002 to November 2003, Handel served as deputy chief of staff to Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue, where she worked as a policy advisor and supervised constituent services, the Governor's Mansion, and general administration services.
Career
Early career
In November 2003, Handel was elected chairman of the Fulton County Board of Commissioners in a special election to replace Mike Kenn, receiving 58% of the popular vote, and continued to serve in that role until 2006. She had run for commissioner unsuccessfully in November 2002, while serving as the president and CEO of North Fulton County Chamber of Commerce. Handel chose not to run for re-election as the chairman of the Fulton County Board of Commissioners, in order to run for Georgia Secretary of State.
Secretary of State of Georgia
In August 2006, Handel won the Republican primary election for Secretary of State of Georgia, defeating state Senator Bill Stephens of Canton. Handel received 56.6% of the vote, to Stephens' 42.4%. In the November 2006 general election, Handel defeated Democratic nominee Gail Buckner, receiving 54.1% of the vote, to Buckner's 41.8%. Handel was the first elected Republican secretary of state in Georgia history. She served as Georgia Secretary of State from 2007 to 2010.
Soon after taking office as Georgia Secretary of State, Handel began a project to purge voter rolls. The procedure involved matching data with information in various sources, such as the Georgia Department of Driver Services database or the Social Security Administration database. Some eligible voters were told that they were "non-citizens", although, in fact, they were citizens. Voter suppression allegations were raised, and the rule became the subject of a federal lawsuit by the ACLU of Georgia and MALDEF, which accused Handel's office of engaging in a "systematic purging procedure" expressly barred by federal law within 90 days of elections.