Karen Handel Sets Campaign Timeline
Former Secretary of State Karen Handel wrote a Facebook post this morning thanking people for their encouraging message as she considers running for Representative Tom Price’s soon-to-be vacated seat. She ended her post with, “Watch for a formal announcement early in the new year.”
Here is her full post:
Steve and I want to thank you for the encouraging calls, emails, and texts as we consider the opportunity to serve the citizens of Georgia’s Sixth Congressional District. We are deeply humbled and so very appreciative of your prayers, gracious thoughts, and warm friendship. Steve and I are looking forward to enjoying the holidays with our family and friends and will take some time to give further thought and prayer to this big decision. Watch for a formal announcement early in the new year. Meanwhile, our warmest wishes to each of you as we look forward to the special seasons of Christmas and Hanukkah.
Karen Handel has run statewide three times: Secretary of State in 2006, Governor in 2010, and Senate in 2014. She also authored a book, Planned Bullyhood, about her experience fighting Planned Parenthood during her time with Susan G. Komen.
The field for Georgia’s 6th Congressional District has thinned in recent weeks. Speaker Pro Temp Jan Jones announced she will continue to work in the Georgia House of Representatives and Sen John Albers has also decided to take a pass. The newest Democrat to throw her name in the ring is former Rep Sally Harrell, with Democratic operatives saying they’ve yet to consolidate behind one candidate.
Senator Judson Hill and Rep Chuck Martin have indicated they are running, and several independents declared candidacies via Facebook – though they probably should fill out some actual FEC paperwork before they’re called candidates. Many others remain in the talking/making calls stage.
The special election date will be set by Governor Deal upon the resignation of Congressman Price, which will not likely occur until he has been confirmed as HHS Secretary by the U.S. Senate.
About Author
Will Kremer
Will is an active member of the Georgia Republican grassroots. He previously served as Chairman of the Georgia Association of College Republicans, 2nd Vice Chairman of the 7th District Republican Party, and Treasurer of the Forsyth County Republican Party. Promise Land = Forsyth County.
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Is there Handel fatigue or would her previous supporters come out again if she runs? It will be a relatively short campaign so money won’t be too important which may favor a lesser known candidate.
She’s well known in GA-6. After all, besides her period as SoS, the majority of her career has focused on the north Fulton area. She is known in the district and is close to the Price family. I suspect Handel fatigue won’t be a major factor.
Then again, I live in the Promise Land (Forsyth County) so my knowledge of the 6th is limited.
Since last winning a race a decade ago, Handel has has lost in a runoff, finished third in a primary, and had a disastrous stint at Komen. That and being tight with Price sounds like just the background for a successful run to the House.
Her bringing up the damage she did to Planned Parenthood ought to play well in the District.
Clearly, if she runs, she wants to maximize the Fulton share of the vote in this three-county district. Last month, in Price’s easy re-election bid, Fulton accounted for 48 percent of the district’s total votes, but Fulton was slightly lower (45 percent) of the district’s total votes in the March Republican presidential primary and even lower (43 percent) of the district’s total share of the vote in the May 2014 U.S. Senate GOP primary—the last time Handel was on the ballot. In that Senate primary, Handel won the district but with far short of a majority (39 percent), while David Perdue, the ultimate GOP nominee for that seat, took 31 percent in the district and Jack Kingston was a distant third in the district with 14 percent. Handel managed a near-majority in the Fulton section of the 6th CD in that Senate primary but only took about a third of the vote in the Cobb and DeKalb portions. When Handel sought the GOP nomination for governor back in 2010,s he won 54 percent in what is now the 6th District (as opposed to the 6th CD boundaries then in existence, prior to 2011 congressional redistricting), taking about two-thirds of the Fulton portion of the district and running in the mid-40s in the Cobb and DeKalb portions.
As for the Democrats, it would still seem to be a leap to win this seat in a special election. While Trump only edged Clinton here by a 48-47 percent margin last month (the Libertarian getting 5 percent), Johnny Isakson won 58 percent in the district and Price got 62 percent. Clearly a lot of 6th CD voters had “issues with Trump”, but still voted GOP down the ballot. (In Fulton County alone—the entire county, not just the 6th CD portion—Isakson ran about 34,000 votes ahead of Trump.) And the Democratic track record in special elections (such as a general election runoff) is not that great in Georgia—just a few weeks ago for example, a Republican easily won the commission chairman’s position in Henry County even though the county backed Clinton in the general election. And in 2008, Jim Martin, who trailed Saxby Chambliss by 3 points in that year’s US Senate general election, lost by a whopping 15 points in the subsequent runoff.