Amy McGrath, a retired Marine Corps fighter pilot recruited by national Democrats to mount a bid against Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has prevailed in her party’s Senate primary in Kentucky.
Amy McGrath, a retired Marine Corps fighter pilot recruited by national Democrats to mount a bid against Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has prevailed in her party’s Senate primary in Kentucky.
McGrath held off a late surge from Charles Booker, a state legislator who tapped into the energy of the movement for racial justice and won endorsements from several high-profile liberals on the national stage.
The race had remained too close to call on Election Day last week as many absentee ballots had yet to be counted. Booker held a narrow advantage over McGrath in a large field based on early and in-person totals released a week ago.
But McGrath made up ground as more votes were tallied, according to updated results, and benefited from early voting.
In a statement Tuesday, McGrath said she was “humbled” to have won the Democratic nomination and said she “can’t wait to get started in sending [McConnell] into retirement and finally draining the toxic Washington political swamp that he built.”
She also congratulated Booker “for his very impressive result” and urged party unity in seeking to oust McConnell.
