It’s 16 months until Kentucky picks a U.S. senator. The ads have already started.
It’s more than 16 months before Kentuckians go to the polls to decide who they want to be their U.S. Senator in 2020, but U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and former Marine Corps pilot Amy McGrath have already launched their first political ads.
McConnell’s campaign launched social media and radio ads Thursday, highlighting a 2018 exchange about abortion between McGrath and talk show host Larry Glover on 590 WVLK. In the exchange, Glover asks McGrath whether she supported abortion through the ninth month of pregnancy and McGrath responded by saying she doesn’t think the “government should be involved in making a decision on a woman’s body.”
“McGrath calls herself 100% pro-choice, supports late-term abortion and sounds more like a liberal Democrat from New York or California,” a narrator says before playing a clip from the exchange. The radio spot opens and closes with a clip of McGrath saying she’s “more progressive than anyone in Kentucky.”
The ad is a rehash of an attack used against McGrath when she ran for Congress against U.S. Rep. Andy Barr, R-Lexington, in 2018. Barr used the issue to paint McGrath as too liberal for the 19-county district in Central Kentucky on his way to three point victory in the race.
McGrath came prepared. She launched her own radio ad saying she does not support late-term abortions and accusing McConnell of taking her out of context when he uses the clip of her saying she’s more progressive than anyone in Kentucky.
“It’s doctored audio,” McGrath says in the ad. “He cut out half the sentence. You should release the whole recording senator. I was running for Congress and talking about not taking money from gun lobbyists and I compared myself to anyone in Kentucky who had served in that office.”
She goes on to defend her pro-choice stance, pushing back at the notion that she supports abortion through the ninth month.
“And of course I don’t support late-term abortions,” McGrath says. “Mitch McConnell is cutting out my words and lying to you. Senator, you’ve spent 34 years in the Washington swamp but I took an oath as a Marine fighter pilot and a national security advisor to always tell the truth. I’ve been a registered independent, spent 20 years in the Marine Corps and married a Republican. That’s a long way from the far left.”
Both McConnell and McGrath have been able to start advertising early in part because of the large amounts of money their campaigns have pulled in from across the nation. McConnell has raised more than $11 million for his campaign so far, while the McGrath campaign has said it raised $5 million in the first few days after she entered the race on July 9.
McGrath is also spending $250,000 for television ads starting Friday in the Evansville, Ind., and Paducah markets, where politicians and the politically affiliated will gather for the annual Fancy Farm Picnic this weekend.
McGrath is skipping the event — she said she wants the focus to be on the 2019 races — even though one of her Democratic opponents, Mike Broihier, will be there. If people catch the ad, they’ll be able to see a 60-second version of her campaign announcement video.
The McConnell campaign has been quick to pick up Barr’s argument that McGrath is too liberal for Kentucky, while some Kentucky Democrats have lamented that McGrath isn’t liberal enough, noting her statement last month that she would have voted for Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh (McGrath later apologized and said she reconsidered).
In her 2018 race, McGrath distanced herself from national abortion rights groups and when she was asked about her stance on abortion rights, she would often bring up her Catholic faith.
“I am Catholic and am acutely aware of this issue throughout my entire life,” McGrath said in a statement last August. “There are ample restrictions currently placed on abortions, but they never seem to be enough for extremists like Barr. Our focus ought to remain on preserving our constitutional rights, the health and well-being of the mother, and the rights of women to make their own choices without interference from government.”
This story was originally published August 1, 2019 at 5:11 PM with the headline "It’s 16 months until Kentucky picks a U.S. senator. The ads have already started.."