Joining our long list of conservative candidate endorsements like Tom Coburn, Jim DeMint, Marco Rubio, Mitch Daniels, and Bobby Jindal, RedState is pleased to add Karen Handel, our choice for Republican gubernatorial candidate in Georgia.

Five years ago, RedState decided we wanted to push a project — pick a state and get voter photo identification passed as a law.

Given the number of us from Georgia, it was a natural fit to work there. We worked with the state legislature and encouraged activists to push the law. It passed. Unfortunately, Georgia had a Democrat Secretary of State who was intent on opposing the law.

Four years ago, we stood behind Karen Handel as she ran for Georgia’s Secretary of State. She stood with RedState on voter ID laws. She fought for the laws and implemented the laws. But she did not stop there.

Karen Handel has also been a leader among this nation’s Secretaries of State in pushing for citizenship verification. She knows what’s at stake.

During George H. W. Bush’s tenure in office, there was one staunch and vocal conservative in the White House — Vice President Dan Quayle. And the only person further to the right than Dan was Marilyn Quayle. Karen Handel served as a Deputy Chief of Staff in the White House, working for Mrs. Quayle.

Before becoming Secretary of State, Karen Handel was Chairman of the Fulton County Commission. Fulton County is the most heavily populated county in Georgia — it is Atlanta. And it was broke. Under Handel’s tough leadership, Fulton County prospered with a balanced budget.

Throughout her tenure, Karen Handel has been an unapologetic budget slasher. She is pro-life, pro-family, and pro-business. Refreshingly, she’s also not a wild-eyed populist, but believes in conservative reforms to effect not just smaller government, but more efficient and less intrusive government.

During her time in the Secretary of State’s office, she has not just been a champion of voter identification reforms, but also business reforms to make it easier to set up businesses in Georgia. She has worked to cut out ridiculous regulations and worked to streamline government filings. She has also worked hard to foster greater transparency and access to government documents online.

Georgia is considered one of the reddest of the red states. But it has yet to elect a governor who has always been a Republican. Even Georgia’s present governor, Sonny Perdue, did not become a Republican until a couple of years before running for governor. It shows. His instincts remain largely those of a conservative southern Democrat.

Unlike several of her opponents in the Republican Primary, Karen Handel is a life long Republican and conservative — not part of the good ol’ boy Republican establishment, but a Republican we can stand behind without being embarrassed by and innately, intrinsically conservative.

When RedState needed a champion, Karen Handel was there for us. RedState will now stand behind her as she seeks the Republican nomination for Georgia Governor. We encourage you to give what you can to her campaign.