- Karen Handel
Karen Handel is an American politician in the state of Georgia. She is a Republican currently serving as
Secretary of State of Georgia . Her previous office was as Chairman of the Fulton County Commission. Prior to her elective office, Handel served as Deputy Chief of Staff to Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue. She has also served as President and CEO of the Greater North Fulton Chamber of Commerce and has held leadership positions in a number of community and civic organizations, including Habitat for Humanity, the Chattahoochee Water Basin Council, and the Georgia 400 Corridor Study Group. Karen Handel has been named as one of the “100 Most Influential Political Leaders in Georgia” by Georgia Trend, and one of the Georgia’s leading business women by B2B magazine. Handel resides in Roswell, Georgia, with her husband, Steve.Biography
In 1989, Handel served in the Bush-Quayle Administration as Deputy Chief of Staff to
Marilyn Quayle . One of her responsibilities was to promotebreast cancer awareness. As part of Mrs. Quayle’s initiatives, October became National Breast Cancer Month, the National Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure was established, federal funding forbreast cancer research was increased, and the Office of Research on Women's Health was established at theNational Institutes of Health . Handel later served as President and CEO of the Greater North Fulton CountyChamber of Commerce as well as a business executive for multipleFortune 500 companies in Atlanta, Georgia.Fact|date=February 2007Chairman of Fulton County Commission
Handel was elected in November 2003 as the Chairman of the Fulton County Commission in a special election to replace
Mike Kenn , receiving 58 percent of the popular vote. As the Fulton County Commission Chairman, she received statewide and national media attention for exposing corruption in the sheriff’s department, an effort that led to the eventual resignation of the incumbent sheriff. As Chairman, she also passed the strongest county government ethics policies in the state. [http://www.macon.com/mld/macon/15166139.htm]Georgia Secretary of State Campaign
Handel successfully ran as the Republican nominee for the office of Secretary of State of Georgia in a statewide election on
November 7 ,2006 . She won a contested primary election against Bill Stephens, Charlie Bailey, and Eric Martin; however, she did not receive over 50% of the vote and was required by Georgia law to face the second-place finisher in a run-off. She won the resulting primary run-off election onAugust 8 ,2006 , with 56.6% of the vote against Georgia State Senator Bill Stephens. [http://www.sos.state.ga.us/elections/election_results/2006_0808/federal.htm Official Results of the August 8, 2006 Primary Runoff Election] ]References
External links
* [http://www.karenhandel.com/ Karen Handel for Secretary of State]
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