Charles Booker’s response to the Herald-Leader’s endorsement of Amy McGrath | Opinion

The Herald-Leader is entitled to endorse any candidate it chooses. But Kentucky voters deserve to hear directly from me about the race I am running.

Regular people are not worried about whether their senator has flown fighter jets. They are worried about medicine, utilities, rent, food, student loans, and reckless tariffs hurting farmers, small businesses, and working families.

Kentuckians need a champion for working people, someone who does not just point out challenges or make empty promises, but is committed to going to Washington to be part of the real solution.

For too long, leaders in Washington have ignored Kentuckians. That is how we got Donald Trump. I am not running to continue grassroots work from the sidelines. Hood to the Holler is not a consolation prize. It is a movement built in nearly all 120 counties, reaching new voters and bringing back people both parties, including my own, have ignored.

This race is not about who fits the old political mold. It is about who can build the coalition required to win and govern. Some call ideas like Medicare for All impossible. They only sound impossible because we keep sending the same types of leaders to Congress and getting the same results: help for billionaires while working families fight over scraps.

Kentucky needs a senator who can inspire, organize, and fight for the people, particularly in this era of Donald Trump. On May 19, Kentucky Democrats will choose the path forward. I am ready.

Respectfully,

Charles Booker

Democratic Candidate, U.S. Senate

Charles Booker wrote this piece in response to the Herald-Leader’s endorsement of Amy McGrath for the Democratic primary in the U.S. Senate race. The Herald-Leader invites candidates who were not endorsed to respond with an op-ed.