Karen Handel, who began the race for Georgia governor as an underdog, will face former congressman Nathan Deal in a runoff for the Republican nomination. Handel, a former secretary of State, defeated Deal decisively in Tuesday night’s primary vote, though not by enough to avoid the runoff. Her campaign gained major momentum when she was endorsed by Sarah Palin last week: After Handel positioned herself as an alternative to her “good old boy” opponents, Palin referred to her as a “great commonsense conservative woman” on Facebook. If Handel wins the August 10 runoff, she’ll go on to face off with Democrat Roy Barnes, who served as the state’s governor from 1999 to 2003.
