Karen Handel’s e-mails with a Log Cabin Republican
Marc Yeager, former president of the Georgia Log Cabin Republicans, last night sent over three sets of e-mail exchanges he had with Karen Handel – now a GOP candidate for governor — in 2002 and 2003.
See the e-mails: Exchange No. 1, Exchange No. 2, and Exchange No. 3.
Former secretary of state Karen Handel
In Exchange No. 1, Handel expresses her support for domestic partnership.
“As I’ve told you, I do support domestic partner benefits, and confirm my position here, although I do have concerns about a domestic partner registry. Bottom line is that I will work with you and other GLBT leaders to develop workable legislation,” Handel wrote in July 2002, when she was a candidate for a district seat on the Fulton County Commission.
Attached to that e-mail exchange is a draft of a questionnaire to Georgia Equality, a gay rights group.
Handel spokesman Dan McLagan said that the e-mail and the draft of the questionnaire – which McLagan said was never submitted – were composed by Matt Montgomery, Handel’s campaign manager at the time.
“Karen never supported domestic partnership benefits. The one opportunity she had to vote on the issue, she voted against them. And she did not send the e-mail,” McLagan said.
Minutes later, Montgomery called to assume responsibility for the e-mail. He did not remember typing the closing phrase – “fondly, Karen.” Possibly, he said, it was an automated signature on the e-mail.
“I was going back and forth with Marc Yeager at the time,” said Montgomery. He is currently a state employee with the governor’s Office of Highway Safety, which is why — Montgomery said — he had not been drawn into the dispute until Monday.
McLagan said he could not confirm or deny the legitimacy of the other e-mail exchanges.
In Exchange No. 3, Handel wonders at then-congressman Johnny Isakson’s support for a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage in the United States.
“I was a little surprised since I always thought that Johnny was fairly moderate about the gay community and specific issues….has that changed???” she asked in 2003, when she was running for the chairmanship of the Fulton County Commission.
Yeager also said that he accepted a check from Handel, for membership in the Georgia Log Cabin Republicans, a GOP group for gays and lesbians.
This is from a May article in the Savannah Morning News:
Deal says she backed adoptions by gay couples and county employee benefits for gay domestic partners – and joined the pro-gay-rights Log Cabin Republicans.
If she did, that might have played well in Fulton County – but wouldn’t with most conservatives likely to vote in the July 20 GOP primary.
But she didn’t support such adoptions or benefits, said spokesman Dan McLagan. Like other Republicans, she spoke to the Log Cabin group, McLagan said, but – as far he knows – didn’t join.
My AJC colleague Aaron Gould Sheinin just got off the phone with Yeager.
Asked if he spoke to Handel face-to-face specifically about domestic partner benefits, Yeager said, “Oh, several times.”
The issue was an important one for Log Cabin Republicans in the race for county commission.
“There were several conversations with myself and Karen, Mansell McCord, who was [former] chapter president at the time, that was a conversation that was fully vetted. There was no question as to where she stood,” Yeager said.
As for her campaign manager’s claim that it was he, and not she, who wrote the July 30, 2002 e-mail indicating support for domestic partner benefits, Yaeger is dubious.
“Clearly, in all the e-mails I have between myself and Karen, there was never, ever any thought I was e-mailing to anybody else other than Karen,” he said. “I have numerous e-mails between Karen Handel and myself unrelated to these issues. Never, ever, was I under the impression there was someone responding for her. I had her personal cell phone number. I was able to reach Karen directlyi. There was never any thought I had at the time. And I still don’t now.”
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89 comments Add your comment
Bill
June 8th, 2010
3:17 pm
Sonny Perdue is looking real good in comparison to the current republican field.
Ken
June 8th, 2010
3:31 pm
Who really cares….this is all gotcha politics and the candidates are damned if they do, damned if they don’t. Both sides have come up with there no tolerance stance, so how can you win? However since we’re all in an opinion mode, here goes. This should be a societal issue and not a personal choice issue. You can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you can get what you need. – I guess the Rolling Stones said it best.
Bubba
June 8th, 2010
3:31 pm
Roy’s loving this.
Art Vandalay
June 8th, 2010
3:38 pm
obviously Bill, I was kind of enjoying it though. I don’t know if it’s satire is lost or that there really are people in parts of this state like that so you can never be too sure.
Art Vandalay
June 8th, 2010
3:39 pm
or maybe they just really do support paving over East Atlanta, who knows.
WAW
June 8th, 2010
3:42 pm
Karen and Ox are not really a threat. The candidate you Republicans had best avoid is Johnson or you’ll not only have Reynolds by the Sea at Jekyll, but Reynolds under the Gold Dome, and Reynolds on the Road, and Reynolds Education. You guys need to put this petty stuff aside and guard us all against a real problem because we’re going have to be voting for Roy in the Democratic Primary and can’t cross over to vote for anybody but Johnson.
Fedup
June 8th, 2010
4:03 pm
The issue is the fact that she is a liar – a bigger issue than the whole opinion/argument regarding GLBT’s and insurance needs
told you so
June 8th, 2010
4:11 pm
your moma has a big butt
love Barry
Debdoes
June 8th, 2010
4:14 pm
Republicans being liars? Should I start listing now all the Repubs in office that have lied and cheated this year?
There is a sickness in GA
June 8th, 2010
4:17 pm
@Bill I agree with you 100%, let the churches do the marrying and the government civil unions.
John Konop
June 8th, 2010
4:25 pm
I think Nathan deal should read this!
Most Homophobes are Gay
Research by US psychologist Prof. Adams of the University of Georgia suggests that 80 percent of men who are homophobic have secret homosexual feelings.
In Prof. Adams’s test, homophobic men who said they were exclusively heterosexual were shown gay sex videos. Four out of five became sexually aroused by the homoerotic imagery, as recorded by a penile circumference measuring device (a plethysmograph).
Prof. Adams’s research was published in the prestigious US Journal of Abnormal Psychology in
1996, with the backing of the American Psychological Association.
Prof. Adams says his research shows that most homophobes “demonstrate significant sexual arousal to homosexual erotic stimuli”, suggesting that homophobia is a form of “latent homosexuality where persons are either unaware of or deny their homosexual urges”.
These findings support the theories that homophobia (fear and hatred of gayness and support for antigay discrimination) is often indicative of repressed, self-loathing homosexual feelings; and that many homophobes subconsciously use anti-gay attitudes as a smokescreen to disguise their own homosexuality.
http://www.ipce.info/library_3/files/homophobes.htm
dawggie stile
June 8th, 2010
4:31 pm
that yager dude sure knows how to burn some bridges. take your ball(s) and go home buddy.
Arthur Blank (eye owns the falcons)
June 8th, 2010
4:31 pm
I want to have sex with Karen Handle, after I finish with Vicki Locke!
HOMO-Disliker!
June 8th, 2010
4:34 pm
Phobia means fear of. I have NO FEAR of Homos, therefore I cannot be a Homophobe. I have a lot of dislike for them, so call me what I am, a “Homo-disliker”
The Truth Will Set You Free
June 8th, 2010
4:41 pm
Hey dawggie stile – Karen Handel dug her own grave…what was “that yager dude” to do while Handel and her campaign staff essentially called him a liar all the time KNOWING that they were IN FACT THE LIARS.
>>>>KAREN HANDEL IS A BLATANT LIAR WHO WOULD WANT A BRIDGE To SOMEONE WITH ABSOLUTELY NO INTEGRITY ANYWAY<<<<
The Truth Will Set You Free
June 8th, 2010
4:44 pm
DAWGGIE… PS maybe Karen Handel should consider taking her ball and going home… who wants to elect an uneducated liar?
No Ox Noo Raw Deal, Nooo Linger Longer Johnson Noooo King Roy
June 8th, 2010
4:46 pm
I still don’t have enough reason to add Handle to my name but there sure plenty of reasons to not vote for the rest..
The Name Says It All..
Fred
June 8th, 2010
4:47 pm
Just out of curiosity HOMO-Disliker, why do you dislike Homo-sexuals? Why do you even care who someone sleeps with? I’m not judging you or condemning you, I’m just trying to understand. I don’t get turned on by another man’s hairy butt, but that doesn’t mean that I dislike anyone who does.
?????
June 8th, 2010
4:52 pm
The Truth Will Set You Free
June 8th, 2010
4:44 pm
I hear the Raw Deal has cash problems, you had better be the 1st one to the bank with your pay check.
No Ox Noo Raw Deal, Nooo Linger Longer Johnson Noooo King Roy
June 8th, 2010
4:54 pm
????? … How can Deal have cash problems after all the took from the Georgia Taxpayer?
Well now
June 8th, 2010
5:13 pm
Fondly, Karen? So Matt Montgomery is a drag queen named Karen in his off hours?
Will Jones - Atlanta Jeffersonian Exegesis
June 8th, 2010
5:32 pm
More good reasons to vote for DuBose Porter and Carol.
joe robby
June 8th, 2010
5:49 pm
This reminds me of Mark Taylor vs. Cathy Cox in 2006. By ignoring issues and pandering to bigotry in this state, Taylor destroyed himself ultimately. Mark Taylor is a sorry loser. And it looks like these guys are going to follow his path to destruction. Enjoy.
Food For Thought
June 8th, 2010
6:30 pm
It is apparent by most of the responses against Karen Handel, that the republican party is full of MCP’s and women who ask their Ray McBerry supporting husbands who to vote for. The thought of a competent woman, with a proven record of success mind you, is not in their pea brains. Women are supposed to be home with the younguns, hopefully proving her husband like Ox, is potent enough to keep her barefoot and pregnant. Ah such is the life of a tightassed uber christian conservative.
The democrats will fight like hell with each other but will always, always, get out and vote for democrats. Republicans get pissy, then take their toys and go home. Good grief….. no wonder this country is so screwed up.
Concerned
June 8th, 2010
7:10 pm
I have listened to all of these people running and Karen is the best, as far as knowledge and where she wants to take GA…Once a month they line up and give there little speeches…she is hands down the best one….Iam very conservative and they have been trying to label her this way in south ga for a year… Iam sure the AJC is smiling about this it just helps get Roy closer back to the big house….god help us…
Anne
June 8th, 2010
7:23 pm
She talks out of both sides of her mouth.
BobDog
June 8th, 2010
9:44 pm
First, I have voted Republican more than Democrat in my lifetime. I am fiscally conservative, socially moderate. The Republican party has no place for me anymore- at least in Georgia. It is Christian Jihad!
I understand California has a ballot iniative to let everybody run in one primary, Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, etc. The top two vote getters would run off in a general election. This would get the kooks out of the way, both from the far left and from the far right.
I’m disappointed that Karen Handel has to be defensive on the gay rights issue. But, I understand that to be open minded on the subject would be political suicide.
She has my vote.
Barb Bee
June 9th, 2010
1:31 am
This is a REPEAT of something that was tried in 2004 in the SOS race.
Now that women have done so well across the nation the opposition is scared to death of her and are fabricating this trash.
These guys are dancing all around the issues…they don’t say much that specifically supports their charges and INFER a lot! So…they discussed the issue many times. So have I…and I still didn’t agree with them.
Now one of them is “dubious.” I am plenty dubious about their veracity and their motivation for all of this. It sounds to me like revenge because she wouldn’t support them while the Fulton County Chairworman.
John K
June 9th, 2010
8:50 am
Georgia, it’s no longer 1954.
The Truth Will Set You Free
June 9th, 2010
9:20 am
Hey Barb, the FACT is that Karen Handel is the worst kind politician…she has no concept of honor and integrity and would do anything or say anything to win an election. Not the kind of person I want as governor or any other position for that matter.
No Ox Noo Raw Deal, Nooo Linger Longer Johnson Noooo King Roy
June 9th, 2010
10:29 am
The Truth Will Set You Free
Does Deal have cash problems or did he steal enough to self finance?
Momentary respect for human dignity rocks Handel campaign | Fresh Loaf
June 9th, 2010
11:32 am
[...] reported by AJC Political Insider Jim Galloway indicate former secretary of state and GOP contender for [...]
The Truth Will Set You Free
June 9th, 2010
12:53 pm
NoOx, how would I know if Deal has cash problem??? What’s your point anyway? Not sure who I am supporting in the primary… the crop of candidates this year is SORRY!!! Austin Scott… where are you?
Handel’s fumbling of gay-rights question doesn’t inspire | Kyle Wingfield
June 9th, 2010
7:07 pm
[...] both assertions. But this week a former president of the group, Marc Yeager, produced copies of three purported e-mail exchanges with Handel in which she endorsed giving benefits to the partners of gay county workers. (None mentioned gay [...]
Just Nasty & Mean
June 9th, 2010
8:21 pm
Indeed, Handel looks like she has packed on 30-40 lbs,. on the rubber chicken circuit. She should start hanging out by the celery tray.
Is is just me, or does Handel keep “stepping in it” left and right? She got tangled up with Ray McBerry, had issues with Ga. Right to Life, and now this stink over Gays.
Combine all that with being closely associated with the likes of Sonny Perdue (Okey Woods, DOT road routes by his property, Fla. land tax relief, Jekyll Island, and Go Fish (for crying out loud)…….and she’s starting to look slimy.
Karen the Quiter
June 10th, 2010
11:15 am
If you would all look at the article discussed here, you will find most of your ramblings do not have anything to do with the matter. It’s Karen Handel that we are talking about by the way. I have worked with and for Mrs. Handel. I do not care for her at all. If you decide to vote for her, please keep this in mind.
She has never completed a position that she has been elected for by the people. Oh I’m Sonny’s Cheif of Staff – but I bet I would make a great commissioner for Fulton County. Quit Sonny and run a campain. Win election, I am Fulton Counties Chair, I have made it – But what’s this, Cathy Cox is running for Govenor opening up the Secretary of State position for election – I would be good at that. Quit Fulton County and run for Secretary of State. I have made it – third in command in this state with just a high school diploma. America really is great – What, the Governor wants me to run for his job, how can that be, I have not finished messing everything up at the Secretary of States office yet. Hide mistakes and obvious blunders in this drawer here – Quit the Secretary of State position and run for Governor what the hell it seems to be working for me.
What if a seat in Washington becomes available before her term is up? She has already proven that she cannot be counted on to fulfill any of the promises made during the campain, or that she even cares about the people who put her there.
When elected to SOS postion: She built a wall in the front office to block her from the public – her constituents. She would never walk anywhere alone – much lilke Sonny, to avoid “Stupid Questions”. People this is not the person you should want in control of education and our Money. She is a liar and should not be trusted.
Momentary respect for human dignity rocks Handel campaign | atlanta.rssible.com
June 10th, 2010
2:19 pm
[...] reported by AJC Political Insider Jim Galloway indicate former secretary of state and GOP contender for [...]
It's About Ingetrity
June 10th, 2010
4:17 pm
So, the latest from the Handel campaign seems to be… bottom line she voted against domestic partner benefits on the Fulton Co commission.
This seems to be an admission that… well yes I Karen Handel did pander and lie to gay people to get their votes so I could use them and my position on the Fulton Co. commission as a stepping stone to higher office. I have never lied to the real people of Georgia and I have always preferred to deny any advancement of rights for gays I just lied to them to get where I am today therefore you should make me your next governor because; like I said I would never lie to real Georgians…those gays you know we can use them and toss them out at will. Never mind that I was telling real Georgians that I never said any of those things to gays, or that I joined some gay group…those things were just all part of the master plan and I never really meant any of it… I just had to use the gays otherwise you would not have the privilege of voting for me for governor!
A False Attack on a Palin-backed “Mama Grizzly” | Extreme Conservatives
July 17th, 2010
8:30 am
[...] persist because of a series of leaked e-mails between Handel’s campaign in 2002 and the former president of the Log Cabin Republicans, a [...]