Biography

Karen Handel brings a unique blend of executive, political and business experience to public service in Georgia. She most recently served as Georgia’s first Republican Secretary of State and is exceptionally qualified to lead our state as Governor.

Karen’s life is a case study in overcoming obstacles both personal and professional, and this fuels her “can do” attitude and her campaign’s vigorous “Bring It On” approach.

A deteriorating family situation caused Karen to leave home at 17.  She got a job and finished high school.  She also put herself through as much college as she could afford before starting a career that would see her rise rapidly through corporate America (including CIBA Vision and accounting firm KPMG) and Republican politics.

From a job at Hallmark Cards corporate offices in Washington, D.C., Karen was recruited to work in the Bush-Quayle White House, eventually becoming Deputy Chief of Staff.  In that capacity, she managed office operations and spearheaded Mrs. Quayle’s breast cancer awareness and research campaign, which ultimately led to the founding of the Susan G. Komen Washington ‘Race for the Cure.’

After the White House, Karen served as an executive with KPMG and later with CIBA Vision.  As a member of the North Fulton Chamber of Commerce Board, Karen was tapped to lead the Chamber (one of Georgia’s largest Chambers). Within weeks on the job, she found that an employee had embezzled all but $10 from the Chamber’s bank accounts.  Many board members saw no way to salvage the troubled organization but Karen disagreed and said, “Bring it on.”  She went to work rallying businesses and community leaders and developed a recovery plan.  Today the North Fulton Chamber is thriving and creating much needed jobs.

Following his upset victory in 2002, Governor Sonny Perdue tapped Karen to serve as Deputy Chief of Staff where she oversaw operations in the Capitol, the Governor’s Mansion and served as a senior policy advisor.

In 2003, when the Chairman of the Fulton County Board of Commissioners unexpectedly resigned early in his second term, state Republican leaders encouraged Karen to run to fill the remainder of his term. Most gave her no chance of winning, but Karen said, “Bring it on”.  Running against two former commissioners and another candidate, Karen campaigned against high property taxes and for ethics reform. She won with nearly 60% of the vote in this heavily Democratic county.

During her tenure leading the most populous county in Georgia, she inherited a budget shortfall of nearly $100 million and was told there was no way to balance the budget without raising taxes.  Karen said, “Bring it on.”  She made the strategic cuts needed and balanced the county budget three times without raising taxes. She also made ethics reform a cornerstone of her agenda and passed the most stringent ethics laws of any local government in Georgia. Karen also received national recognition for uncovering corruption that led to the removal of Fulton County Sheriff Jackie Barrett.

When Karen ran for Secretary of State in 2006, few “insiders” gave her any chance of success, but once again Karen said, “Bring it on.”  She again defied the odds and handily beat the former Senate Majority Leader for the job.

As Secretary of State, Karen supervised nearly 400 employees.  Her duties included overseeing elections, corporations, securities, professional licensing boards, and an anti-fraud investigative unit she formed in her first months in office.

In 2007, Karen successfully defended Georgia’s Photo ID law, and in 2008, she oversaw the largest elections in Georgia’s history. She led a top-to-bottom review of the agency, resulting in a 15% reduction in the agency’s budget with improvements in efficiency and customer service. Recently, Karen’s office announced that several national financial services firms will pay $8.5 million in fines to the State of Georgia, and Georgians will recover more than $3.5 billion of investments.

Time and time again in her career, Karen has faced what many considered insurmountable odds, and each time she has said, “Bring it on,” and won.  That is the attitude she brings to the Georgia race for Governor. 

Karen is a lifelong conservative and Republican.  She and her husband Steve live in Roswell with their two cavalier spaniels Maggie and Mia.