"I am running for governor," Karen Handel told The Associated Press at the annual Wild Hog Supper, held on the eve of the legislative session's first day.
A former chairwoman of the Fulton County Commission, she enters what is shaping up as a crowded Republican field.
Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle and state Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine are also running and have already begun assembling sizable campaign war chests with some 18 months to go until a primary.
"Competition is fine with me," Handel said, noting that she emerged from a four-way GOP primary to win her current job as Georgia's elections chief.
Handel has yet to raise any money and, like other candidates, is prohibited from doing so during the 40-day legislative session. She said she will file the needed paperwork to enter the race soon.
She has been a strong supporter of the state's voter ID law, which requires in-person voters to present photo identification to cast a ballot. She won praise for her efforts to educate voters about the law in advance of the 2008 presidential race.
But she also faced charges of partisanship from Georgia Democrats after booting three Democratic candidates off the ballot over residency questions just before the July primary. The Georgia Supreme Court ultimately sided with one of those candidates, would-be Public Service Commissioner Jim Powell. The court concluded that Handel's office "committed an error of law" by disqualifying him.
David Poythress, the former commander of the Georgia National Guard, is the only Democrat to enter the race so far. Poythress is a former state labor commissioner and Georgia secretary of state.
House Minority Leader DuBose Porter said Sunday that he'll announce his intentions after the legislative session.
Another Democrat, former Gov. Roy Barnes, says he has been encouraged to run by some business leaders but has not decided yet whether to do so. Barnes was seeking a second term in 2002 when he was defeated by Perdue.
Secretary of State Karen Handel
http://accesswdun.com/article/2009/1/213553