Second bid

McGrath announces second bid for McConnell’s Senate seat

The retired fighter pilot said she is “battle-tested and ready to fight.”

Cheyanne M. Daniels

Amy McGrath on Monday officially launched another Kentucky Senate bid, aiming to take the seat held by retiring Sen. Mitch McConnell.

McGrath, a retired fighter pilot, announced her candidacy on X, saying the Bluegrass state deserves a senator “battle-tested and ready to fight.”

“I know what courage looks like. Right now, way too many politicians don’t, and Americans are being thrown under the bus by cowards in Washington without the moral backbone to serve our nation with honor,” McGrath said in her announcement.

In 2019, McGrath ran against McConnell in one of the most expensive senate races in Kentucky history. In 2018, she raised nearly $8 million in her House run. She narrowly lost that race to Republican Rep. Andy Barr.

Since McConnell announced his retirement in February, the pool of candidates vying for his seat has grown.

In addition to McGrath, state Rep. Pamela Stevenson, attorney and former Secret Service agent Logan Forsythe and Joel Willett, an ex-CIA and military officer, will face off in the Democratic primary. Barr, former Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron and businessperson Nate Morris will face off in the Republican primary.