LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- U.S. Senate candidate Amy McGrath has snagged endorsements from U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth, D-Ky., and per primary opponent, State Rep. Charles Booker, D-Louisville.
McGrath, a retired U.S. Marine and fighter pilot, is trying to unseat Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. A recent poll from Quinnipiac University showed the race is competitive, with 49% choosing McConnell, and 44% picking McGrath.
McGrath said in a news release that she was "honored" to receive endorsements from "two great leaders, who have each dedicated their careers to improving the lives of everyday Kentuckians.
"It is going to take all of us working together to retire Mitch McConnell in November," McGrath said, "and I couldn’t be more excited to have Rep. Booker and Congressman Yarmuth fighting beside me."
U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth, D-Louisville, spoke to WDRB News from his office in Washington, D.C. on Feb. 6, 2020.
Yarmuth said that there could be "no clearer choice in this election."
"Amy McGrath believes government can be effective in making the lives of all Americans better," Yarmuth said. "Mitch McConnell has spent 36 years in the Senate resisting those efforts. Even today, nearly 400 House-passed bills are sitting on Mitch’s desk that he won’t bring up for Senate action."
Booker said a vote for McGrath would be a vote for meaningful change.
"We all need to do everything we can to make sure she wins this race," he said, "not because that’s the end of our movement’s work but because it will give us a battlefield where we have a fighting chance to enact progressive policy, instead of a sworn enemy."
McGrath recently unveiled a social justice plan and touted voter registration efforts as she tries to reclaim the progressive and minority voters who backed Booker during the primary election.
Kentucky state Sen. Gerald Neal, D-Louisville.
State Sen. Gerald Neal, a Black Democrat from Louisville, said this week that McGrath’s plan shows an "extensive commitment" to many key issues facing the African American community.
Many Booker supporters will automatically shift their support to McGrath as the Democratic nominee, Neal said, but others will need to be persuaded. Without a concerted effort by McGrath, some could sit out the election.
"We can’t afford that when really she’s not the problem," Neal said in an interview. "The problem is Mitch McConnell. And the game is not just winning her seat. The game is changing the Senate so that there’s a Democratic majority."
Booker’s Senate bid surged along with national demonstrations over the deaths of Black Americans in encounters with police. He joined demonstrations in his hometown of Louisville to demand justice for Breonna Taylor, who was fatally shot by police in her own home.
HOLD FOR STORY- In this June 17, 2020 photo U.S. Senate candidate Charles Booker shakes hands with protestors in Louisville, KY. Booker is running against Amy Grath for the senate democratic nomination. (Alton Strupp/Louisville Courier Journal via AP)
Booker criticized McGrath during the primary while playing up his own activism. One of his campaign ads showed a segment from a debate in which McGrath was asked if she had been with protesters in Louisville. She replied she had not. Asked to explain, McGrath said: "Well, I’ve been with my family and I’ve had some family things going on."
In another ad, Booker said it would take a "real Democrat" to defeat McConnell.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. Copyright 2020 WDRB Media. All Rights Reserved.
