Karen Handel

Karen Handel
Born	Karen Christine Walker 4/18/1962
Birthplace	Washington, D.C., U.S.
Nationality	American
Occupation	Businesswoman, politician
Title	U.S. Representative from Georgia's 6th congressional district
Known for	U.S. Representative for Georgia's 6th congressional district, Secretary of State of Georgia, Susan G. Komen for the Cure controversy
Awards	First Republican woman from Georgia elected to Congress

Karen Christine Handel (née Walker; born April 18, 1962) is an American businesswoman and former politician who served in several prominent public offices in Georgia over a career spanning more than two decades. A member of the Republican Party, Handel served as chair of the Fulton County Board of Commissioners from 2003 to 2006, as the 26th Secretary of State of Georgia from 2007 to 2010, and as a member of the United States House of Representatives representing Georgia's 6th congressional district from 2017 to 2019. Her 2017 special election victory made her the first Republican woman from Georgia elected to Congress, a milestone achieved in one of the most expensive and closely watched House races in American history. Prior to her congressional tenure, Handel gained national attention for her role in the Susan G. Komen for the Cure controversy in 2012, when as the organization's Senior Vice President of public policy she pushed to defund Planned Parenthood's breast cancer screening programs. After multiple unsuccessful campaigns — including a 2010 gubernatorial bid and a 2014 U.S. Senate race — Handel won the 2017 special election to succeed Tom Price, who had been appointed U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, before losing the seat in 2018 and again in 2020 to Democrat Lucy McBath.

Early Life

Karen Christine Walker was born on April 18, 1962, in Washington, D.C. Details of her early childhood and family background in Washington remain limited in publicly available records. Handel eventually relocated to the state of Georgia, where she would build her career in both the private and public sectors. She settled in the suburban communities north of Atlanta, an area that would become central to her political identity and base of support throughout her career in Georgia politics.

Handel's path into public life was not a conventional one among Georgia politicians. She did not follow the traditional route through state legislative service but instead built her reputation through county-level governance and appointed positions before seeking higher office. Her background in the private sector and experience in business management informed her approach to governance, which she frequently described in terms of fiscal conservatism and government accountability.

Career

Fulton County Board of Commissioners

Handel's entry into elected politics came with her service on the Fulton County Board of Commissioners, the governing body of Georgia's most populous county, which encompasses most of the city of Atlanta and its northern suburbs. She served as chair of the Board of Commissioners from 2003 to 2006. During her tenure as chair, Handel dealt with the administrative and budgetary challenges of governing a large and diverse county. Her service in Fulton County provided her with a political platform and name recognition in the Atlanta metropolitan area that would prove essential in her subsequent campaigns for statewide and federal office.

In 2005, Handel's work in Fulton County government continued to draw attention in the Atlanta business community. Her tenure as commission chair positioned her as a rising figure in the Georgia Republican Party, particularly in the affluent suburban communities of north Fulton County that formed the core of the state's Republican electorate.

Secretary of State of Georgia

In 2006, Handel ran for the office of Secretary of State of Georgia, the state's chief elections officer and a position responsible for overseeing corporate filings and professional licensing. She won the Republican primary and went on to win the general election. Handel assumed office on January 13, 2007, succeeding Cathy Cox as the 26th Secretary of State. She served under Governor Sonny Perdue.

As Secretary of State, Handel oversaw Georgia's elections and implemented voter verification procedures that drew both support and criticism. A 2008 CNN report examined allegations of voter suppression related to Georgia's voter verification practices during Handel's tenure, focusing on a system that cross-referenced voter registration applications with state databases. Supporters of the verification system argued it was necessary to ensure election integrity, while critics contended that it disproportionately affected minority voters and newly registered citizens.

Handel resigned from the Secretary of State's office on January 8, 2010, in order to focus on her campaign for governor of Georgia. She was succeeded by Brian Kemp, who would later serve as governor of Georgia.

2010 Gubernatorial Campaign

Following her resignation as Secretary of State, Handel entered the 2010 Republican primary for governor of Georgia. The race attracted a crowded field of candidates and became one of the most competitive gubernatorial primaries in the state's recent history. Handel received an endorsement from former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, which provided a significant boost to her campaign and drew national media attention to the race.

The Palin endorsement helped Handel advance to a runoff against Nathan Deal, a former U.S. congressman. During the campaign, Deal attacked Handel as being overly supportive of gay rights and abortion rights, seeking to position himself as the more conservative candidate in the runoff. Despite the high-profile endorsement and her strong showing in the initial primary, Handel narrowly lost the runoff to Deal. The endorsement dynamics of the race were analyzed in broader national media coverage about the influence of conservative endorsements on Republican primary outcomes. Deal went on to win the general election and served two terms as governor of Georgia.

Susan G. Komen for the Cure

In 2011, Handel was appointed Senior Vice President of public policy at Susan G. Komen for the Cure, a prominent charity focused on fighting breast cancer. In this role, Handel became a central figure in one of the most prominent controversies in American nonprofit history.

In late 2011 and early 2012, the Komen foundation moved to cut off its funding for breast cancer screening programs conducted at Planned Parenthood clinics. The decision was widely reported to have been driven in significant part by Handel, whose personal opposition to abortion had been a feature of her political career. The organization initially cited a new policy barring grants to organizations under government investigation as the rationale for the funding decision, as a congressional inquiry into Planned Parenthood was then underway.

The decision provoked an immediate and intense public backlash. Supporters of Planned Parenthood and many public health advocates criticized the move as an inappropriate politicization of a health charity's mission. The controversy generated extensive national media coverage and prompted a surge of donations directly to Planned Parenthood. Within days, the Komen foundation reversed its decision and announced it would continue funding Planned Parenthood's breast cancer screening work.

In the wake of the reversal, Handel resigned from the Komen foundation in February 2012. The episode remained a defining event in Handel's public profile and continued to be a point of discussion throughout her subsequent political campaigns. Handel maintained that her position was consistent with her pro-life views and that the decision was appropriate given the organization's mission.

2014 U.S. Senate Campaign

In 2014, Handel entered the Republican primary race for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by retiring Senator Saxby Chambliss. The primary attracted a large field of Republican candidates. Handel participated in candidate debates as one of the state's GOP Senate hopefuls. Handel did not advance past the primary, and the nomination ultimately went to David Perdue, who won the general election.

2017 Special Election: Georgia's 6th Congressional District

Handel's most nationally prominent electoral victory came in 2017 when she ran in the special election for Georgia's 6th congressional district. The seat had been vacated by Tom Price, who was appointed U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services by President Donald Trump in February 2017. The 6th district, located in the northern suburbs of Atlanta, had been a reliably Republican seat for decades — Price had won it by a wide margin in 2016, and the district had been represented by Republicans since Newt Gingrich first won it in 1978.

The special election drew extraordinary national attention and became widely characterized as a referendum on the early months of the Trump presidency, as well as a test of Democratic enthusiasm in the wake of the 2016 presidential election. Democrat Jon Ossoff, a 30-year-old former congressional aide and documentary filmmaker, mounted a well-funded and high-profile challenge. The race became the most expensive U.S. House race in history at that time, with combined spending by the candidates and outside groups exceeding $50 million.

In the initial round of voting in April 2017, held as a nonpartisan jungle primary, Ossoff received approximately 48 percent of the vote — just short of the majority needed to win outright — while Handel finished second among a large field of Republican candidates, advancing to the June 20 runoff. Polling in the spring showed a close contest, with both candidates drawing significant support.

The runoff campaign was intensely competitive, with both national parties investing heavily. Handel campaigned on traditional Republican themes including tax reform, opposition to the Affordable Care Act, and conservative social values. Her history with the Komen-Planned Parenthood controversy resurfaced as a campaign issue, with opponents highlighting it and supporters viewing it as evidence of her commitment to pro-life principles.

On June 20, 2017, Handel defeated Ossoff, winning approximately 52 percent of the vote to Ossoff's 48 percent. Her victory was seen as a relief for Republicans who had feared that the closely watched race could signal a coming Democratic wave. Handel became the first Republican woman from Georgia elected to Congress. She assumed office on June 26, 2017.

Congressional Tenure

In Congress, Handel represented Georgia's 6th congressional district during the 115th Congress. She focused on health care policy, among other issues, during her time in the House. Her health care positions included support for replacing the Affordable Care Act, consistent with the broader Republican legislative agenda during the Trump administration.

Handel's congressional tenure was relatively brief. Having won the special election in June 2017, she served through the remainder of the 115th Congress and faced voters again in the November 2018 general election.

2018 and 2020 Elections

In the 2018 general election, Handel faced Democrat Lucy McBath, a gun control advocate and mother of Jordan Davis, a teenager who was fatally shot in 2012. The race took place amid a national political environment that favored Democrats, and McBath narrowly defeated Handel, ending her congressional tenure after approximately 18 months in office. Handel left office on January 3, 2019, and was succeeded by McBath.

In 2020, Handel sought a rematch against McBath in an attempt to reclaim the seat. The November 3, 2020, election resulted in another loss for Handel, who earned a lower percentage of the vote than she had received in the 2018 contest. The two consecutive losses to McBath reflected the shifting political landscape in suburban Atlanta, where demographic changes and evolving voter preferences were moving formerly reliable Republican districts toward the Democratic Party.

Personal Life

Karen Handel resides in the northern suburbs of Atlanta, Georgia. Her birth name was Karen Christine Walker; she took the surname Handel upon marriage. Details about her family life beyond these publicly documented facts remain limited in available sources.

Handel has been open about her political and policy views throughout her career, particularly her opposition to abortion, which informed both her work at the Susan G. Komen foundation and her positions as a candidate for office. Her involvement in the Komen-Planned Parenthood controversy made her a figure of national recognition beyond her electoral career in Georgia.

Recognition

Handel's 2017 special election victory was widely covered in national and international media as one of the most significant congressional races of the Trump era. Her status as the first Republican woman from Georgia elected to Congress was noted as a historic milestone at the time of her election.

The Georgia 6th district special election set records for campaign spending and drew attention from political analysts, media organizations, and party leaders from across the country. The race was covered extensively by major outlets including The New York Times, NPR, Politico, CNN, and ABC News, among others, and was treated as a bellwether for the political dynamics of the Trump presidency's first year.

Handel's earlier career also attracted national attention, particularly her tenure as Secretary of State and the controversies surrounding voter verification procedures, as well as the Komen-Planned Parenthood episode, which became one of the most discussed nonprofit governance controversies in recent American history.

Legacy

Karen Handel's career in Georgia politics spanned a period of significant transformation in the state's political landscape. When she first won election as Secretary of State in 2006, Georgia was firmly in the early years of its shift toward Republican dominance at the state level. By the time of her final congressional race in 2020, the suburban communities she represented were at the center of a counter-shift, as the northern Atlanta suburbs that had long been Republican strongholds moved toward the Democratic Party — a trend that contributed to her two consecutive losses to Lucy McBath and to the broader Democratic gains in Georgia in the 2020 election cycle.

The 2017 special election in the 6th district remains a frequently cited example of the nationalization of congressional races, as both parties invested unprecedented resources in what was nominally a local contest. The race between Handel and Jon Ossoff set the template for the high-spending, high-attention suburban battleground races that characterized the 2018 midterm elections across the country.

The Komen-Planned Parenthood episode in which Handel played a central role had lasting implications for nonprofit governance and the relationship between charitable organizations and political advocacy. The controversy prompted broader discussions about the politicization of health-related charities and the boundaries between public policy advocacy and charitable mission.

Handel's career also illustrated the internal dynamics of the Republican Party in Georgia during a period of transition. Her 2010 gubernatorial loss, in which she was attacked by Nathan Deal for being insufficiently conservative on social issues, and her subsequent embrace of more explicitly conservative positions, reflected the broader rightward movement of the party's primary electorate during that era.