Police protests upend Democratic Senate contest in Kentucky

[TexasTowelie]

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — For months, Charles Booker languished in the shadows, talking about racial and economic justice in a long shot bid to take on Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader of the U.S. Senate. Then came a national eruption over the deaths of Black Americans in encounters with police.

Now, Booker's bid for the Democratic Senate nomination from the left wing of Kentucky politics is on the rise, creating an unexpectedly strong challenge in Tuesday's primary to the party-backed favorite, former Marine fighter pilot Amy McGrath.

Booker has been helped by the endorsement of Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and the state's two largest newspapers. It's created a sense of momentum and led to a surge in fundraising, money that Booker has used to slam McGrath, the long-time front-runner, in TV ads. It also has added a measure of uncertainty to the script in Democrats’ uphill efforts to topple McConnell, who is seeking his seventh term.

“Over the past couple of weeks, you all have seen a shift,” Booker, a freshman state lawmaker, said at a rally this past week in his hometown of Louisville. “There is something in the atmosphere. Something is really going on here. We all are a part of history.”

Read more: https://www.state-journal.com/news/state_news/ap_ky/police-protests-upend-democratic-senate-contest-in-kentucky/article_fbf09ad0-4b2c-5db7-84ce-eede6cab0e77.html
(Frankfort State-Journal)

[LizBeth]

1. I had been listening to this being a close race between McGrath and McConnell and then a couple days

I heard McConnell was double digit ahead. I checked it out in 538. Just one week ago McGrath was 1% ahead and now Book is 14 pnts behind and McGrath is even further.

Wth?

https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/polls/kentucky/

[murielm99]

2. Booker is one of those Bernie Sanders/AOC backed candidates.

Someone with their backing will not do well in Kentucky. Also, they have a poor track record with the people they endorse. Those candidates seldom win.

Bernie needs to go back to the Senate and vote. He has missed too many votes. Instead of trotting around the country, AOC needs to go home and look out for the needs of the people in her district.

[LizBeth]

3. My post was not about Sanders participation. I want to know why it was a competitive race with

McConnell last week, and this week it is an easy win for McConnell.

[murielm99]

4. I think you have to look at the sources.

Are the polls reliable?

[LizBeth]

5. 538. Has been pretty reliable for over a decade.