It’s been a decade since a DSCC-endorsed candidate lost a primary. But that impressive streak will be tested in the upcoming weeks, where the first potential defeat could come in Kentucky despite the leading candidate setting fundraising records among all challengers nationally.
Former Marine fighter pilot Amy McGrath has raised over $41 million in her quest to take out Mitch McConnell —more than any other candidate or incumbent this cycle. But in focusing on the Senate majority leader, she may have overlooked her Democratic primary rivals, and she has been forced to spend nearly $3.3 million on ads in the final week of the primary alone to salvage her campaign.
That’s because the recent events over the past few weeks, with protests and a focus on racial injustice, have instead made her Black challenger, state Rep. Charles Booker, the candidate of the moment. And his timely momentum may trump McGrath’s money.
“Charles Booker right now is lightning in a bottle. Almost anything can happen,” longtime Kentucky politics reporter and analyst Al Cross told me last week. Meanwhile,
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