Karen Handel
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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.
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[edit] Biography
In 1989, Handel served in the Bush-Quayle Administration as Deputy Chief of Staff to Marilyn Quayle. One of her responsibilities was to promote breast 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 for breast cancer research was increased, and the Office of Research on Women's Health was established at the National Institutes of Health. Handel later served as President and CEO of the Greater North Fulton County Chamber of Commerce as well as a business executive for multiple Fortune 500 companies in Atlanta, Georgia.[citation needed]
[edit] Chairman 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.[1]
[edit] 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 on August 8, 2006, with 56.6% of the vote against Georgia State Senator Bill Stephens.[2]
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