Congresswoman Karen Handel Kicks Off Campaign In Roswell

Congresswoman Karen Handel (R-GA-06) kicked off her general election campaign yesterday in Roswell. Speaking to a packed house, the Congresswoman highlighted some of the accomplishments that have come from the Republican Congress: largest military pay increase in a decade, tax cuts that are putting more dollars in the pockets of Americans, roaring economic growth with the comparison of last quarter’s 4.4% GDP growth to the 1.9% growth during the “best” times of the Obama administration, and the work to fight the opioid crisis.

Congresswoman Handel also spoke about her work to fight human trafficking. The first piece of legislation that she put her name on was to combat and shut down sites responsible for online sex advertising and recruiting. She also talked about her work with Congressman Rob Woodall (R-GA-07) to secure funding for the GA-400 corridor expansion which got a big amount of applause from the crowd.

She reminded supporters that elections are about the future, and that Republicans need to drive to get out the vote in order to continue the work. She invoked the unsavory image of Nancy Pelosi taking back the Speaker’s gavel and Maxine Waters chairing the House Financial Services committee. A “radicalized and extreme” Democratic majority would mean rolling back tax relief and an unaffordable “Medicare for All”. She emphasized all really means ALL meaning that people covered under an employer-sponsored healthcare plan would have to surrender those benefits and go into a government-ran system.

Last year, Democrats were motivated to “Flip the Sixth” by electing 6th district outsider (literally) Jon Ossoff. So motivated to avenge their loss of the White House in 2016, Democrats outside of Georgia helped contribute $40 million to his campaign. She referenced headlines that indicated that her campaign was a lost cause. That Republicans would lose a reliably Republican seat in Congress, but that was not the case. Karen Handel is now a Member of Congress and Jon Ossoff is giving interviews on how it feels to lose an election.

Congresswoman Handel reminded the crowd that she is battle-tested and ready. She’s ready to fight to win and keep GA-6 in the Republican column. Millions will pour in from Democrats to prop up their nominee Lucy McBath and try to nationalize the race. Handel reminded supporters that this isn’t a national referendum, it’s about neighbors. As she closed, she reminded supporters that together they will hold the sixth this year as they did during the 2017 special election: “what did we do together? We kicked some Ossoff.”