Karen Handel says she's 'humbled' and 'honored' by win

(Image credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

last updated 21 June 2017

Karen Handel, the projected winner of Georgia's 6th congressional district special election, told supporters Tuesday night she knew it was going to be a "very, very tight race" that was "going to require all hands on deck, and that's exactly what we had."

Handel, a Republican and former Georgia secretary of state, will fill the seat vacated by Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price in the GOP stronghold. Handel started her victory speech by thanking volunteers and politicians like Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.), who was shot last week while practicing for the Congressional Baseball Game. "We need to lift up the nation so we can find a more civil way to deal with our disagreements, because in these United States of America, no one should ever feel their life threatened over their political beliefs and positions," she said.

Handel said her opponent, Democrat Jon Ossoff, was "gracious" when he called to concede, and reminded the crowd that "we may have some different beliefs, but we are part of one community, the community of the 6th district." The real work is about to begin, she said, "the hard work of governing and doing it in a responsible, civil way. My pledge is to be part of the solution to focus on governing, to put my experience to work to help solve the very serious issues we're facing in this country."

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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