McGrath and Booker move toward unity after contentious Democratic primary
Days after a contentious Democratic Primary for U.S. Senate, Democratic nominee Amy McGrath and state Rep. Charles Booker, who lost by almost 3 percentage points, are moving to unify the party heading into November’s general election.
While McGrath alienated progressive voters through much of the primary, on Twitter Thursday, Booker signaled he is willing to support McGrath’s campaign.
“Our common enemy is Mitch,” said Booker, D-Louisville. “We must beat him, so we can do the real work. I understand that, and am reaching out to @AmyMcGrathKY to discuss how we can truly work together.”
McGrath later chimed in, saying Booker’s “voice and perspective are much needed.”
Booker and McGrath have spoken since the election and the campaigns have opened the dialogue, according to the McGrath campaign. In his concession statement Tuesday, Booker mentioned McGrath only once, saying “this isn’t about Amy and I” and did not congratulate her winning campaign.
Booker’s willingness to work with McGrath comes after months of criticism over her more moderate political approach.
McGrath infuriated many progressives when she said she would have voted to confirm U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh before reversing her position hours later. The gaffe was exacerbated by her campaign’s attempts to create separation between President Donald Trump and U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. She has repeatedly accused McConnell of standing in the way of Trump’s efforts to enact campaign pledges like lowering prescription drug prices.
Booker entered the race in January adamant that McGrath’s approach wouldn’t work and that a Democrat can’t beat McConnell by running a moderate campaign. He ran ads saying McGrath was a pro-Trump Democrat and in June he told the New York Times McGrath would lose to McConnell.
As Booker built up his coalition of support, those supporters also piled on against McGrath on social media, some even making memes of her as “a Karen,” an internet meme attributed to women, often white women, who are being hysterical or racist.
McGrath made it through the primary without making many appeals to the progressive base of the party. Even as McConnell’s campaign attempted to paint her as “too liberal for Kentucky,” she lost endorsements from people like Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts.
Still, that won’t stop the McConnell campaign from trying.
“After getting only 45% of the vote from Kentucky Democrats, McGrath obviously needs all the help she can get to be remotely competitive against Mitch McConnell,” said Kate Cooksey, McConnell’s spokeswoman. “Charles Booker and Amy McGrath’s support of the Green New Deal, government run health care, and open borders may earn plaudits from the liberal elite, but not the vast majority of Kentuckians.”
This story was originally published July 2, 2020 at 3:47 PM.
