In the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate, one candidate fits the bill | Opinion

This paper has endorsed Amy McGrath and Charles Booker in two of their previous political races. They are showing up once again to fight for the Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate seat that has opened up for the first time in 42 years with the retirement of Sen. Mitch McConnell. They are running on many of the same topics they’ve run on before: saner health care systems, affordability, environmental protections, saner criminal justice.

They are both good candidates; for a variety of reasons, they’ve never been first across the finish line for public office. But this year, we are giving our endorsement to McGrath, a candidate who understands clearly that her over-scripted, over-handled persona in previous races focused too much on her unique persona as a fighter pilot and not enough of the people who would become her constituents.

That appears to have changed. This time around, McGrath is fired up, filled with a zeal to help the Kentucky betrayed by the man they voted in as president. She is angry. She is angry for women without reproductive freedom, for families who can’t afford their electricity bills, for people who can no longer afford health care, and for our military now led into another forever war in the Middle East.

“The future of our country is literally going to be determined in these midterms,” McGrath told the editorial board. “Whether we’re going to check this reckless president, this regime, or not. And you’re somebody like me, and you look at that, you’re like, you can’t sit this one out.”

And while many voters are tired of McGrath’s previous harping on her fighter pilot origins, she is in fact an expert in military and diplomatic affairs, expertise that will be desperately needed in Congress. She has spent the past five years at the University of Kentucky’s Patterson School, teaching subjects such as defense, statecraft, and national security policy. In her hiatus from politics, she has also served on the U.S. Naval Academy’s Board of Visitors, appointed by former President Joe Biden, the board of Iraq Afghanistan Veterans of America, and Kentucky’s Veterans Trust Fund board.

As McGrath told the editorial board, President Donald Trump’s decision to invade Iraq without stated goals is dire, and the consequences entirely predictable.

“I fear that this is going to drag on and on and on, and it is another Forever War, and one in which the American people will pay,” she said. “We will pay at the gas pump. If he invades (with ground troops), we will pay in blood and treasure more than we have already. We’re already spending a billion dollars a day on this thing. It’s absolutely the worst foreign policy decision, I think, in my lifetime.”

McGrath is still a centrist Democrat who could attract the independents and Republicans who are suffering under Trump policies, like tariffs and Medicaid cuts. As before, she would like to see a slow roll to a more universal health care system, starting with the claw-back of money in Trump’s bill to fully fund Medicaid and Affordable Care Act subsidies.

Also on her legislative wish list: codifying Roe v. Wade, ending stock trading for Congress, and mandatory term limits.

We hope all the Democratic primary candidates we interviewed will continue their inspiring work in public life.

Charles Booker should continue his work in the grassroots movement he founded known as Hood to the Holler, holding up the marginalized and forgotten people of Kentucky.

Rep. Pamela Stevenson should keep preaching the word of a better life for Kentuckians.

And should he choose it, Dale Romans should continue to pursue politics. As a successful thoroughbred race horse trainer, Romans’ unique personality was forged in Kentucky’s signature industry, and it’s given him a sophisticated and intricate view of our nation’s immigration problems. He has more to learn about how state and national government systems work before he could become a really compelling candidate, but we hope he continues down that road.

For this race, in this moment, we believe Amy McGrath is best suited to take on whichever candidate wins the Republican primary. She is ready to fight for Kentucky.

The Herald-Leader believes the tradition of candidate endorsements enhances interest and participation in the civic process, whether readers agree with the newspaper’s recommendations or not. The paper has unusual access to candidates and their backgrounds, and considers part of its responsibility to help citizens sort through campaign issues and rhetoric.

An endorsement represents the consensus of the editorial board. The decisions have no connection to the news coverage of political races and are wholly separate from journalists who cover those races.

Unendorsed candidates can respond with 250-word letters that will be published as soon as possible.