Handel, Karen, 1962-

<p>Karen Christine Handel (née Walker; born April 18, 1962) is an American businesswoman and politician who served in the United States House of Representatives from 2017 to 2019 and as Secretary of State of Georgia from 2007 to 2010. A member of the Republican Party, Handel worked in business before entering politics. She served as chair of the Fulton County Board of Commissioners from 2003 to 2006.</p>

<p>In 2010, Handel ran for Governor of Georgia, narrowly losing the Republican primary to Nathan Deal, who portrayed Handel as overly supportive of gay rights and abortion rights.</p>

<p>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 to Planned Parenthood. Following an uproar over the politicization of the charity, Handel resigned from Komen in February 2012.</p>

<p>In 2017, Handel became the first Republican woman from Georgia elected to Congress, after winning the special election to fill the vacancy in Georgia's 6th congressional district.</p>

<p>In the 2018 elections, Handel narrowly lost the election to Democrat Lucy McBath. On November 3, 2020, Handel lost her rematch challenge to incumbent McBath 54% to 46%, earning a lower percentage of the vote than she did in 2018.</p>

<p>Following years of experience in state and local government, Republican Karen Handel of Georgia won a special election to the U.S. House of Representatives on June 20, 2017, in what was called the most expensive congressional race in American history. With her win in a suburban Atlanta district, Handel became the sixth woman, and the first Republican woman, elected to the House from the state of Georgia.</p>

<p>Karen Handel was born on April 18, 1962, in Washington, DC, and grew up just outside the District in Prince George’s County, Maryland. Life at home was not easy: her mother, who was abusive at times, had an addiction to alcohol. Handel, the oldest of three siblings, helped take care of her younger sister who was born with a serious medical condition. At the age of 17, Handel moved out after her mother pulled a gun on her. Living with neighbors, Handel worked two jobs and graduated from Frederick Douglass High School in Upper Marlboro in 1980. “I know how hard I worked to be able to keep up with school and make A’s and to be there every day, while at the same time getting my sister off to school,” Handel remembered in 2012. Handel attended Prince George’s Community College in Largo, and the University of Maryland, University College, taking accounting courses at night and on the weekends to fit around her work schedule.</p>

<p>Handel eventually took a job with the Hallmark Company, where she worked alongside the Susan G. Komen Foundation to raise awareness about breast cancer. Eventually, she served as deputy chief of staff for Marilyn Quayle, the Second Lady of the United States, and ran Quayle’s breast cancer awareness campaign. Handel and her husband, Steve, moved to the Atlanta area in 1994.</p>