Karen Handel Bio

Karen Handel brings a unique blend of executive, political and business experience to public service in Georgia. Currently serving as Georgia's first Republican Secretary of State, she is exceptionally qualified to lead our state as Governor.

Karen was elected Secretary of State in 2006. Supervising nearly 400 employees, her duties include overseeing elections, corporations, securities, and professional licensing boards.

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.

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. Running against two former commissioners and another candidate, Karen campaigned against high property taxes and for ethics reform, and won with nearly 60% of the vote.

During her tenure leading the most populous county in Georgia, she inherited a budget shortfall of nearly $100 million but 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 won national acclaim by uncovering corruption, which led to the removal of the Fulton County Sheriff.

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.

Prior to serving in the Perdue Administration, Karen was President and CEO of the North Fulton Chamber of Commerce. In leading one of Georgia's largest chambers she worked with local and state leaders to locate businesses and create jobs in Sandy Springs, Roswell and Johns Creek.

Karen's extensive experience in the private sector has proven invaluable in public office. As a former executive with major companies such as CIBA Vision and the accounting firm of KPMG, she has extensive private sector management experience.

As a lifelong Republican, Karen was also honored to serve in the Bush-Quayle Administration as Deputy Chief of Staff to Marilyn Quayle.

Karen and her husband Steve live in Roswell.