Karen Handel, the runner-up to Jon Ossoff in Tuesday’s special election in Georgia’s 6th congressional district, has a long way to go from her twenty percent of the vote to a majority in the run-off. Many Republicans, including other candidates in that race, are moving quickly to back her in the hopes of shoring up her support.
So, who are they backing?
Handel’s anti-abortion history has been getting lots of traction in news and on social media. Why? Because her views on abortion are so extreme, she leveraged her position as a VP at the Komen Foundation — the breast cancer research, education and advocacy charity — to cut funding to Planned Parenthood.
In Handel’s mind, low-income folks shouldn’t have access to mammograms if she doesn’t like the organization providing them. She was forced to resign — you know because life-saving breast cancer screenings shouldn’t be a tool to push your personal politics — and wrote a whole book about how she thinks Planned Parenthood is just so bad.
Trump has already vowed to support Handel anyway he can — a perfect match of two anti-abortion fanatics with a long history of scandals and failures.
In an interview with Real Clear Politics, Handel said she hoped Trump would help her campaign, adding that the district “has a long legacy of Republican leadership, from my good friend current HHS Secretary Tom Price, to Senator Isakson and former Speaker Newt Gingrich.”
Even though Donald Trump only beat Hillary Clinton by 1.5 points in the district, Handel thinks it’s important to continue the legacy of candidates who oppose the fundamental rights of women (and don’t forget: she has a pretty ugly history when it comes to LGBT people, too).
The special election runoff is set for June 20.