All eyes are on the State of Kentucky as what was thought to be a shoo-in for Senate hopeful and former Marine Pilot Amy McGrath. Theres a new kid in town, and that is Charles Booker, Louisville district 43 Representative , a lawyer and progressive who has been at the heart of the black lives matter movement. Of note this is the district where Breonna Taylor, a EMT, was shot by police in her own home. A month later, George Floyd was killed by police. These two incidents were the catalyst for the Black Lives Matter movement.
Ms. McGrath, former US House of representatives hopeful of 2016, certainly has a way with campaign finance having amassed a small fortune upwards of 40 million dollars from her supporters. This is all certain to be an effort to have Republican State Senator of Kentucky and Majority leader of the Senate Mitch McConnell refocus on his campaign for re-election and take eyes off of President Donald Trump .
Booker has been quoted as saying that he feels Kentucky needs a progressive because a moderate has been tried before and it “hasn’t worked” He has been a speaker at protests and marched alongside his fellow statesmen. He is not alone in his stance. Some big names have come to show their support. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie Sanders have put their full endorsement behind him .
With the advent of Booker throwing in his bid, McGrath certainly has had to do some major advertising and in doing so has spent some considerable money in television spots that she was probably not planning on spending. The support of the protests seems to be what people are wanting to see. Booker has been very noticeable in his district. When asked if she had attended any protests over the weekend, Amy McGrath, stalled ” I have not, I have had some things going on with my family, I mean, we are in a pandemic..”
Although she has not been present at the end of the voting today, McGrath was up 45% to Bookers 36% with only 50% of the votes counted. With all the absentee ballots, there may not be a winner declared for quite some time. There will be follow up to this story as more information becomes available.
