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Karen Handel wants a 2020 rematch for the Georgia 6th seat

The former GOP congresswoman lost by 1 point last fall to Lucy McBath

Rep. Karen Handel, R-Ga., and Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, talk as they leave the House Republican Conference meeting in the Capitol on Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2017. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call file photo)
Rep. Karen Handel, R-Ga., and Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, talk as they leave the House Republican Conference meeting in the Capitol on Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2017. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call file photo)

Former GOP Rep. Karen Handel announced on Monday she’s running for her old seat in Georgia’s 6th District in 2020.

Democratic Rep. Lucy McBath defeated Handel by 1 point last fall to flip the longtime Republican-held seat, which Democrats had spent millions of dollars trying to do in the 2017 special election. With the help of outside spending from national GOP groups, Handel — a former Georgia secretary of state — defeated Democrat Jon Ossoff that year in the most expensive contest in House race history.

Handel announced her 2020 campaign with a video that’s over a minute long.

The video opens with footage of prominent Democrats, including California Sen. Kamala Harris, Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib, New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar. It then cuts to b-roll of Handel.

“Imagine if we had leaders in Washington who worked for us,” Handel says in the video. “Leaders more interested in doing their jobs than in being a celebrity.”

Handel won’t have the Republican field to herself. State Sen. Brandon Beach got into the race in January and could pick up support from a few members of the Peach State’s GOP delegation. Handel announced the endorsement of six of the nine members of Georgia’s GOP House delegation on Tuesday. 

Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales rates the general election Tilts Democratic.

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