McGrath wins close race, will face Mitch McConnell next

Amy McGrath took over the Democratic Senate primary fight in Kentucky.  The former Marine was able to beat state Rep. Charles Booker, though it wasn’t a landslide victory. Part of her victory was due to the flood of absentee ballots. Thousands of votes were mailed after Booker led the polls. 

The New York Post reports Booker’s rise and a worthy opponent against McGrath. Booker’s popularity rose after he became a part of the rally during the Black Lives Matter campaign. McGrath did not actively participate in the protests, citing the current pandemic. This, in turn, affected her campaign. 

McGrath, however, does have an impressive portfolio. Prior to the protests, she was able to raise $41.1 million throughout her campaign. This astonishing fundraising is partly due to her support from Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY). 

Though Booker was able to win most of the state’s urban areas, notably Louisville and Lexington, McGrath beats him with her solid support from Kentucky’s rural areas. 

The newly elected Democratic representative is now bout to go against the Grand Old Party’s head and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky). McConnell is now about to run for his seventh term. 

Cook Political Report has predicted that the outcome of this race will most likely be “Republican.” 

On Tuesday, McGrath made a statement that calls out the Democratic Party, asking for the party’s unity. The newly elected senator said, “But there can be no removal of Mitch McConnell without unity. We must unify our Democratic family to make that happen, including those who didn’t vote for me in the primary. And I intend, immediately, to start the dialogue necessary to bring us all together in our common cause for the general election.” 

Despite beating Booker, she praised him for tapping “into and amplified the energy and anger of so many who are fed up with the status quo.” 

McConnell’s campaign spokesperson did have words for the former fighter pilot. In a statement, they said McGrath was “lucky to have gotten out of the primary with a victory, but her reputation sustained significant damage all across Kentucky.”

Photos: U.S. Government / Public domain and Louise Palanker from Los Angeles/Santa Barbara, USA / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0).