2020 Election

Amy McGrath To Face Sen. Mitch McConnell For Kentucky Senate Seat

Former combat pilot Amy McGrath narrowly beat Charles Booker in Kentucky's Democratic primary. She'll face Sen. Mitch McConnell in November.

Amy McGrath To Face Sen. Mitch McConnell For Kentucky Senate Seat
Lexington Herald-Leader / AP

After waiting a week to count mail-in ballots, the results of the Kentucky primary are in. 

In one of the most-watched contests in the country, Amy McGrath won the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate. She narrowly beating Charles Booker, an African-American state legislator who surged in popularity amid the nationwide protests against racial injustice.

McGrath is a former combat pilot who made a name for herself when she ran for a House seat in 2018. Despite losing that election, she announced plans to run for U.S. Senate less than a year later. To make it to Capitol Hill, she'll need to beat Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who's been representing Kentucky in the upper chamber since 1985.

Kentucky has been a Republican stronghold in recent decades. In 2016, President Donald Trump won the state by 30 points. Still, McGrath tweeted Tuesday, "As a woman in the military, I learned quickly that I’d have to fight the establishment to succeed."