Representative karen kendalls is one of the newest members of congress after winning a special election in georgias six dexter. We sat down with her to talk about the election, her family and what it is like as a new member in washington. Are talking with representative karen handel. You have been in washington for a couple of weeks. What has it been like . It has been a whirlwind, but what next ordinary opportunity to represent the people of the sixth district of georgia. Will was the most surprising thing you have picked up on in the last two weeks . Not too much was surprising. Rep. Handel took much was surprising. We have a lot to get done and make sure on the issue site and the policy side, and getting the team put place put in place as well. Ask most representatives come in with a learning curve, but you are coming in in the middle where you are dealing with a debt ceiling and a budget situation. How do you bring yourself up . Collects i am a studious individual so i spent every evening catching up on issues and as many briefings as i can get to, i go to. Briefingtax reform yesterday evening, and my colleagues, not just from the georgia delegation but across the entire caucus have been extraordinarily helpful in spending time with me if it is before a set of votes in committee, a bill markup to help me get up to speed answer my questions. Do you have a mentor . Someone specific as a colleague that you have been relying on . Congress begging congressman doug collins has been terrific and congressman drew ferguson. He and i serve on education and workforce together. Several of the female members we have a tightknit tightknit group. , when coming to congress dimension bringing a team together. What kind of things to do have to do on the technical and support side to build the team you need to do your job . Ap. Handel coming and i have short window. Most of secretary prices team were wellversed in the health care issue. They all went with him to hhs. It is a good thing and a bad thing where i had a completely open palette to start over. A strong director, chief of staff and we are filling out the rest of the team. Tell us about the daytoday. I and usually here by 7 00 or 7 30. I catch up on the news, look at the votes, get briefed. Meetings, committee usually votes in the midmorning and votes again toward midafternoon, late day. You talked about people you are depending on, and you mentioned secretary price who served in this position. Did they offer you advice . I have extremely big shoes to fill with the leadership in this position. Secretary price has been a longtime friend and mentor. He and i still try to carve out time every week to chat on the phone a little bit about the issues in the district and all of those things. He has been terrific. You live in georgia, serve georgia but you grew up in washington, d. C. I grew up in southern maryland. My husband and i have been in maryland for 25 years. It is our home and where we have spent all eight months all but eight months of our marriage. It is interesting to be back in the washington, d. C. Area. What took you from this area to georgia . My husbands job. I was working in the bushquayle administration and we were not reelected, so we knew that in career paths, it would take us somewhere else. Georgia and Metro Atlanta was number one on our list. He got a job promotion to go to atlanta and we said, lets check it out. There, within three said, i love it here, i have told my dad but you have to tell your mother. Keep our home in georgia where we live right in the heart of the sixth district and i will commute back and forth. On of the waste keep my feet the ground is to make sure that i do my Grocery Shopping and go to church with the people that i represent and it is important for me to keep his circle of friends who are not in the world of politics because they dont care about any of this. That . T do you hear about i get a little pass for the first couple of weeks but my friends are not in the political world. They will be very straightforward with me. That is a grounding perspective that is needed. You work for marilyn quayle. I read somewhere that you developed a mantra for yourself as far as how you define yourself. What is that and why is it important to you . I think you are probably talking about the fact that she said he never let other people define who you are, that you define yourself through your convictions. Through your words and your actions. To bes to that to the fullest extent that i possibly can. Theve always appreciated aportunity that she gave to young girl who i cannot know anything about politics, i did not have a College Degree and she took a big chance on me. Not knowing about the world of politics, you say that you ran for several positions, the rent for the senate and the Governors Office as well. What do you make of that now . To be true to myself and my convictions and to make sure that when i am looking at a particular issue, im looking at it to the lens that is best and right. Dont try to find a solution based on politics, find the best solution and management politics after. Ask what made you decide to run for this position . As you know it was the special election. There were 18 of us to start with. It was really just incredible that number of candidates. I really made the decision to be back in the private sector. After a lot of soulsearching and contemplation with myself and my husband, it did seem like the right thing to do. An extraordinary opportunity. It was not an automatic yes in your mind . My husband and i he has family in richmond and we always drive up for christmas. Nine hours up and nine hours back. Issuers of chewing on an its a long time. It is also a commitment for him. Wanted to make sure that he was 100 for it. I am not a good political soundbite person. Policy person. In this time where we as republicans have to move from what i called vocal opposition into an era of governing, that is a good fit for me and that was a take deciding factor. The money spent in this race must have been a big factor on both sides. What do you think about that, especially come Campaign Time . It was a lot of money, and up seen amount of money spent on the congressional race. Only history can look back at this and make a determination got into a place of an balance and money versus the individual voice of the voter. What i will say is that in this race, one of the big success factors for me was the fact that i had such a long tenure in the district and the people in the district many of them i know. So there were personal relationships. That mattered to people and across political lines. It wasnt a republican thing or a democrat thing, it was a friendship thing. How do you plan to make an impact . I am privileged to serve on the judiciary, education and the workforce. I am not a lawyer so i can bring a different perspective to the table. Opioid talking about the drug epidemic and there was a lot of talk about the legal aspect. At the end of the day i hope i can bring the moms and dads who are dealing with their children gosh for addiction, or putting an education side of it. Some of those labor and workforce issues are important to