You know the election year is upon us when GOP gubernatorial candidate Karen Handel tosses a rhetorical firebomb at the "good old boy" bunch running the state legislature.

The "good old boys" in charge are her fellow Republicans, of course.

Handel, the only female candidate for governor so far, hoisted the gender flag at a fundraiser attended by about 300 Women for Karen in Atlanta on Tuesday. She fired away at the culture of "sex, lies and lobbyists" and the "cycle of abuse and corruption" under the Gold Dome. She said the men in the governor's race "created the mess."

No doubt, Handel figures she can build a base of women supporters to help win the GOP nomination, but her message of ethics reform - echoed by every other candidate - will have to resonate with a lot of men. Even though "good old boys" is a time-honored term in Georgia describing the workings of Gold Dome politics, Handel's use of the words make this a gender issue as well.

Anyway, nothing gets attention like "sex, lies and lobbyists." Ditto for Handel's call for "radical change and reform" and for "leadership that will shake things up and clean things up."

Meanwhile, in the Republican race to succeed Handel as secretary of state, former state Sen. Brian Kemp of Athens has been appointed by Gov. Sonny Perdue to serve out the remainder of the term ending this year. Kemp was already a candidate and the appointment gives him an obvious advantage.

Kemp, 46, who is in the real estate investment and property management business, is following Handel's lead in stamping out voter fraud, which you might have thought already was stamped out but apparently is still rampant.

Kemp's Web site features "Help Stop Voter Fraud" and "Stop Voter Fraud Now," providing a form or telephone number to report "questionable election-oriented activity."

The incumbent/candidate also will continue Handel's unsuccessful efforts to cull illegal immigrants from voter rolls. She ran afoul of the Department of Justice time and again with a system simply checking Social Security and driver license databases against voter registration applications. No doubt, continuing this battle will help Kemp with many voters. So should his support for a paper trail for ballots at some point.

Another Republican in the race, Sandy Springs City Councilman Doug MacGinnitie, predictably took exception to Perdue's appointing an active candidate for the post instead of an interim caretaker. That was the sentiment of Gary Horlacher, among a bunch of Democrats running for secretary of state.

Perdue's press secretary, Bert Brantley, pointed out a disadvantage: Kemp is barred by law from raising money for his campaign while the General Assembly is in session. Of course, assuming Kemp is any sort of viable candidate, raising money during the legislative session won't be a big deal.

One thing is certain. An incumbent busily stamping out voter fraud will have an advantage.

Buckle your seatbelt. Election year is under way in Georgia.

dmckee9613@aol.com