LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Charles Booker, the former state representative who became the first African American in Kentucky to be a major party nominee for a U.S. Senate seat, has won the Democratic nomination for November's election to replace outgoing Senator Mitch McConnell, the AP projects.
The 41-year-old Louisville native defeated a crowded field, including former Marine fighter pilot Amy McGrath, state Rep. Pamela Stevenson and horse trainer Dale Romans. He'll face Republican Andy Barr in November.
This isn't Booker's first Senate campaign. He ran for the first time in 2020, falling to McGrath in a close race that grabbed national attention and endorsements from senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders. In 2022, he won the Democratic primary but lost to incumbent Rand Paul.
November's election, though, won't see Booker face an established U.S. senator. With 84-year-old Mitch McConnell declining to run for an eighth term, he'll face lesser-known Republican Andy Barr, a Trump-backed U.S. representative for Kentucky's 6th Congressional District.
Still, Kentucky has been a Republican stronghold, with Democrats only controlling the governorship and Kentucky's 3rd congressional district. A Democrat has not been elected to the U.S. Senate since former Gov. Wendell Ford won his final term in 1992.
While many Democratic candidates have run moderate campaigns, Booker has run on supporting Medicare for All, fully-funded public education and a wealth tax, as well as pushed his own 40x40x45 plan, which calls for anyone who works 40 hours a week to earn a guaranteed minimum 40 hours of paid leave and a minimum wage of $45,0000 a year.
Kentuckians will decide which candidate, Booker or Barr, they want to succeed McConnell in the general election Tuesday, Nov. 3.
