Published: January 08, 2010 10:35 am      

Kemp sworn in as secretary of state

ATLANTA (AP) — Gov. Sonny Perdue swore in Brian Kemp as Georgia’s new secretary of state, handing the Republican an incumbent’s advantage in the race to be Georgia’s top elections official.

The ceremony took place Friday morning in the governor’s office at the state Capitol.

Kemp will serve the remaining year of Karen Handel’s four-year term. Handel left the $130,690-a-year job to focus on her bid for governor.

A former state senator from Athens, Kemp made a failed 2006 bid to be the GOP nominee for state agriculture commissioner. The 46-year-old faces two Republican challengers for secretary of state this year: former Sandy Springs City Councilman Doug MacGinnitie former Flowery Branch city councilwoman Robin Carlisle.