Evan McMorris-Santoro August 11, 2010, 10:55 AM

The mama grizzly has lost her roar. As the final votes are counted in the Georgia Republican gubernatorial runoff, Karen Handel is — so far — keeping quiet. Her opponent in the contest, former Rep. Nathan Deal, is not.

That’s probably because Deal has the miniscule lead heading into the second day of counting in Georgia. The Secretary Of State’s website shows Deal ahead by less than 2,500 votes with 99% of precincts reporting. With that (slight) wind at his back, Deal was ready to take to the airwaves in Georgia as the frontrunner.

“Well, obviously we’re pleased it appears we have a slim margin,” Deal told Georgia Public Radio. “We just wait to have that finalized and hopefully the numbers are going to hold.”

Deal was cautious in TV appearances this morning, too, but according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, he attended a post-primary GOP “unity breakfast” where the paper reports Deal “spoke more confidently that he would prevail.”

Handel, meanwhile, is nowhere to be seen. She wasn’t on the morning shows in Georgia, and she didn’t attend the breakfast. Her silence, however, doesn’t mean the vote count will be coming to a swift end.

“Provisional ballots still have to be counted,” as well as overseas military absentee votes, GPR reports. “Plus, the state won’t certify the numbers until sometime next week.” After that, if the result shows Deal and Handel less than 1% apart in the final tally, Handel will be allowed to request a recount if she so chooses.

For his part, the Democratic nominee, former Gov. Roy Barnes, is moving on from the Republican primary, too. Barnes followed Deal on TV this morning, the AJC reports, and said “he doesn’t have a preference on a Republican challenger.”

“We know that what has been the team in the last few years has failed in that,” Barnes said. “We need to make sure that we get back to some, what I call common sense, moderate leadership to make Georgia prosperous again.”

GA-GOV, Karen Handel, Nathan Deal, Roy Barnes