Posted on 07/03/2021 10:30:05 AM PDT by RandFan
Former state Rep. Charles Booker is jumping into the 2022 Senate race in Kentucky.
Booker, a progressive who came within striking distance of the Democratic Senate nomination in 2020, announced his latest campaign in a video posted online Thursday. His decision was first reported by HuffPost.
“As we go into this day where we celebrate our independence, let’s commit to making it mean something,” Booker says in his announcement video. “And I’m not just asking that of you. I’m going to lead by example. And it’s with that understanding that we have to lead ourselves that I’m going to run for United States Senate.”
Booker is the first Democrat to launch a 2022 challenge to Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), a conservative firebrand who regularly draws the ire of the left. Only one other Democrat has received widespread mention as a potential Senate candidate, former state House Minority Leader Rocky Adkins.
Paul is likely to prove difficult to beat. He was last reelected in 2016 by a nearly 15-point margin and has $3.1 million in his campaign account. Kentucky is also a reliably conservative state that has eluded Senate Democrats for more than two decades.
Democrats had hoped that a high-profile and well-funded bid last year by Marine veteran Amy McGrath would take out Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). But despite hopes of a close race, McConnell was reelected by a nearly 20-point margin, dashing Democratic hopes of an upset victory.
Booker, however, is betting that a more progressive message can push him to victory in 2022.
He ran against McGrath in the state’s 2020 Senate primary, benefiting from a late surge in support amid the national reckoning over race and law enforcement that followed the killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor by police officers.
Booker’s primary bid was ultimately unsuccessful, though he came significantly closer to beating McGrath than many political observers expected, losing the nominating contest by fewer than 3 percentage points.
He'll raise millions nationally because Democrats will hope he can knock off Rand but it won't happen.
Rand has the support of the people.
SIX MORE YEARS.
Call yourself whatever you want. Once you get to DC you will be Schumer’s b****.
Good. Go Rand!
Yeah it’s funny,
Never in a million years will the people of Kentucky swap Rand for a stooge of Chuckie Schumer and the DNC.
Still, if you can throw a few bucks his way that would be great...
“A progressive Democrat in Kentucky. That’ll go down well /s”
Careful. I used to think that about Virginia, NC, etc..
Hope he’s the nominee. If he is I can’t wait to see the returns from Southeastern KY counties. We could well see >90% R margins. The kind of margins you normally only see going to the dems in urban ghettos.
Paul has my support!
Rand should start calling him “Corey”
Meanwhile, from last week....
https://www.govtech.com/elections/kentucky-county-approves-deal-for-new-voting-machines
Fortunately mewzilla they passed an election integrity law which has a chain of custody requirement and paper trail for auditing purposes.
VERY SMART....
And the GOP did it with their super-majority in the legislature so the Dem governor can’t do anything.
Ha!
I bet Mitch McConnell will support the Democrat...not openly though.
I hope he raises billions and wastes all that Rat money.
Is Charles Booker the husband of Cory Booker? 🤓
Is Kentucky ready to defund the police? Is Kentucky gung ho for open borders? Is Kentucky looking for Antifa and Black Lives Matter riots? Is Kentucky ready for CCP type indoctrination? Do Kentuckians hate America? Do they agree with Democrat President Joe Biden’s decision to cancel the Keystone pipeline and throw Americans out of work? Well if they answer yes then vote for Democrats.
What is your point?
Rand Paul with 57% of the vote at least.
Well sure... just like McConnell has always done...plus he doesn't like the power of being Majority Leader and would want to put that out of his grasp by losing a seat...
Yes indeed. The Democrats waste many hundreds of millions in cash trying to unseat our Senators only to not even come close that could have been used in other races. Waste it again! Go for it! LOL!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.