BURSTRetired Marine fighter pilot Amy McGrath (D) announced on Monday that she would be launching a second bid for retiring Sen. Mitch McConnell’s (R-Ky.) Senate seat in Kentucky next year, after losing to the former Senate leader in 2020 by close to 20 points.
“You might know me. I'm Amy McGrath. When I joined the Marines, I swore an oath to the Constitution to defend this country against all enemies, foreign and domestic,” she said in her first ad. “I flew F-18 fighter jets, 89 combat missions. I know what courage looks like.”
“Right now, way too many politicians don't, and Americans are being thrown under the bus by cowards in Washington without the moral backbone to serve our nation with honor,” she added.
McGrath raised tens of millions of dollars against McConnell when she ran against him five years ago and was among a handful of Senate candidates — including former Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison in South Carolina and former Maine House Speaker Sara Gideon — whom the party hoped could topple several strong GOP incumbents.
McGrath’s bid was still seen as a tough uphill climb, and she ultimately lost to the former Senate GOP leader by double digits. Prior to that, she ran against Rep. Andy Barr (R-Ky.) in 2018, narrowly losing to him.
But with McConnell, 83, forgoing reelection next year, some candidates see an opening in a state that hasn’t elected a Democratic senator in more than 30 years; the late Sen. Wendell Ford (D-Ky.) won reelection in 1992.
McGrath notably described the Kentucky Republican's seat as one that would “decide the balance of power in the Senate,” though the Bluegrass State isn’t seen as one of Democrats’ primary pickup targets.
Several other Democrats are also running for the Democratic nod to take McConnell’s seat, including former Secret Service agent Logan Forsythe, Kentucky House Democratic Leader Pamela Stevenson, Hardin County Conservation District Board Chair Vincent Thompson, former CIA officer Joel Willett and socialist Democrat Jared Randall.
Though the Republican field is also crowded, Barr, former Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron and businessman Nate Morris are seen as the top three contenders.
The nonpartisan election handicapper Cook Political Report rates McConnell’s seat “solid Republican.”