Nathan Deal Wins Georgia GOP Runoff for Governor as Handel Concedes

Georgia GOP gubernatorial primary candidates Nathan Deal and Karen Handel were virtually tied in their runoff Tuesday night, but Handel conceded the race Wednesday morning and endorsed her opponent in the general election.

With 99 percent of the precincts reporting, Deal led Handel by about 2,500 votes. Under Georgia law, the runner-up can request a recount if less than 1 percent of the vote separates the winner and loser.


The runoff, which came after three weeks of biting attack ads and a nasty back-and forth, pitted the two ultra-conservative Georgia elected officials against each, both of whom had quit their day jobs earlier in the year to focus full time on winning the race.


Deal, a lawyer and nine-term member of the U.S. House, announced his bid for the governor's mansion in 2009 as the strong favorite for Republicans. The conservative Democrat-turned Republican won endorsements from former House Speaker (and fellow Georgian) Newt Gingrich and former presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee, but he failed to pull away in the polls from the crowded Republican field as 2010 wore on.

In contrast, Handel entered the race as an underdog, presumed to have little chance of winning against her better-known and better-funded rivals. She had been Georgia's secretary of state for three years before leaving office to jump start her campaign. She had previously worked in various corporate jobs and as deputy chief of staff for Marilyn Quayle during the first Bush Administration and in the same capacity for Georgia Gov. Sonny Purdue.

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Handel's campaign listed until July, when Sarah Palin endorsed her candidacy and seemed to single-handedly launch her to the front of the GOP primary field. Handel won the most votes in Georgia's July primary, but because she failed to secure a majority, was forced into the runoff against Deal.

Deal will face the state's former governor Roy Barnes in November. Although Barnes lost his re-election bid in 2002, he mounted a political comeback in 2010 and won the Democratic primary.