Charles Booker, Sen. Rand Paul to face off this fall in U.S. Senate race

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Charles Booker won the Kentucky Democratic primary for U.S. Senate on Tuesday, and will face Sen. Rand Paul in the fall.

In his pursuit of a third Senate term, Rand Paul has made a name for himself as a national voice for a libertarian-leaning philosophy based on limited government and restrained spending. Paul drew five little-known Republican challengers in the Kentucky May primary and had 87.2% of the votes counted as of 8 p.m.

Former state lawmaker Charles Booker of Louisville was a frontrunner on the Democratic side. Booker gained attention for his racial and economic justice message amid nationwide protests over the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and other Black Americans in encounters with police. Booker barely lost the Democratic Senate primary that year to an establishment-backed rival.

Booker had received 69.2% of the votes counted as of 8 p.m.

Paul has amassed a huge fundraising advantage and is heavily favored to win reelection in November. Kentucky has not elected a Democrat to the U.S. Senate since Wendell Ford in 1992.

Paul ran against Republicans Arnold Blankenship of Ashland, Val Fredrick of Murray, Paul Hamilton of Nicholasville, Tami Steinfield of Marion and perennial candidate John Schiess. Along with Booker, the Democrats in the field were Ruth Gao and Joshua Blanton Sr., of Louisville, and John Merrill from McKee.

This story may be updated.