Karen Handel Announces Run for U.S. Senate

In a written statement, Handel said she’s running so “the next young person who ends up on his or her own at 17 will have the opportunity to prosper and achieve.” She added Washington needed “big changes.”

Handel, who nearly won the GOP nomination for Governor in 2010, joins a field that includes Congressmen Paul Broun, Jack Kingston, and Phil Gingrey.

Most recently, Handel served as a top Susan G. Komen for the Cure executive. She resigned from the charity group after it backed away from a plan to cut funding to Planned Parenthood.

Kennesaw State political science professor Kerwin Swint says the move endeared her to state anti-abortion activists, who in the past had been skeptical of her.

“I think she’s in a better position on the abortion questions. The problem is in this particular field that vote is going to be split by two or more candidates.”

Handel is so far the only woman in the race. Swint says that could work in her favor, given high turnout rates among female voters in past GOP primaries. 

Georgia has never elected a female U.S. senator.