“Lucy McBath’s journey is an inspiration, particularly to those who’ve lost a loved one to gun violence, know the pain and fear of fighting an awful disease like cancer, or hoped to turn their grief into action and make change,” said DCCC Chairman Ben Ray Luján. “Georgia’s 6th Congressional District will be far better off with Lucy’s voice and advocacy in Congress, as she works to make communities safer and ensure that all Georgians have access to affordable health care.”
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To: Interested Parties
From: Jacob Peters, DCCC Regional Press Secretary
Date: July 24, 2018
RE: The Case Against Rep. Karen Handel
During her long, winding political career and her short time in Congress, Rep. Karen Handel has proven that she can do little beyond delivering for her party leaders and special interest donors. For Lucy McBath, it’s about much more than that.
Lucy McBath lost her son to a tragic gun violence incident, and now she’s fighting to make communities safer and prevent other families from experiencing that same loss. Lucy McBath beat breast cancer twice, and recognizes that without access to quality insurance and health care, her outcome might have been different, so she is fighting to ensure everyone has access to affordable care. Congress could use more people like Lucy McBath, an advocate who saw a system that wasn’t working for her and her neighbors, and decided to do something about it.
For McBath, the next chapter of that work starts by replacing Karen Handel, who after her brief stint in Congress has already become a creature of the Washington establishment. Handel has been a consistent party line vote, even when it meant selling out her district with a tax scam that eliminated deductions important to her suburban constituents, or gutting the health care system in ways that will lead to higher premiums for many Georgia families.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
Elle Magazine: Lucy McBath Lost Her Son to Gun Violence. Next Came Activism. Now She’s Running for Congress
Mic: This “mother of the movement” is changing the playbook for how Democrats campaign in key districts
Rep. Karen Handel: Already a Failure for GA-06
Already Beholden to Partisan Special Interests
Karen Handel’s campaigns are largely funded by special interest groups, and she has been among House Republicans’ most reliable party line votes since going to Washington. She has voted with her party 98% of the time, including on every one of Speaker Paul Ryan’s major legislative priorities.
Already Gutting Important Tax Deductions
If you need proof Karen Handel is now part of the Washington establishment and beholden to her party over her constituents, look no further than her support for the GOP tax scam. Nearly half of Handel’s constituents benefitted from the State and Local Deduction that was gutted as part of the tax bill – one of the highest rates of any congressional district in the country. Despite many of her Republican colleagues jumping ship, Handel voted for the corporate tax giveaway and put her party allegiance and special interests donors ahead of her own constituents.
Already Raising Premiums
In her last election, Handle supported Republican attempts to take away health care from nearly 60,000 people in her district, so it should be no surprise that when she got to Washington, D.C. she voted to increase premiums on her constituents. Handel voted to strip a key provision from the Affordable Care Act increasing premiums in Georgia by nearly 20 percent. If that was not bad enough, now Washington Republicans have opened the door to cutting Social Security and Medicare to pay for their corporate giveaway.
THE PATH TO VICTORY
This November, for the first time, Karen Handel will have to defend her votes for a deeply unpopular Republican agenda. And she’ll have to do so against an opponent, Lucy McBath, whose deep, personal connection to some of the most pressing issues in voters minds gives McBath a distinct advantage and ability to connect with the voters she needs to win.
Handel’s vote for the Republican tax bill will be particularly difficult to defend in a heavily suburban district that largely benefited from the state and local tax deduction gutted in the bill. The vote also more deeply connects Handel with the Republican health care agenda and makes her directly responsible for likely premium increases. Furthermore, Handel has done next to nothing to demonstrate independence or move to the middle on issues like health care and gun violence prevention.
GA-06 remains a tough district for Democrats, but one that continues to trend away from the increasingly toxic Republican brand. Secretary Clinton got 46.8% of the raw vote in 2016, a nearly ten point jump from President Obama’s support levels in 2012. Nothing about Handel’s path has gotten easier since she eked out the special election to win her first partial term. The unpopularity of the president and the Republican agenda she has tied herself to will weigh her down as the grassroots energy across the state lifts Democrats up and down the ticket.