Amy McGrath beats Charles Booker in tight Kentucky Democratic Senate primary, NBC News projects
As the coronavirus pandemic led certain states to expand voting by mail to promote safety, Kentucky expected roughly 800,000 votes by mail — many of them cast days before the election, according to The Washington Post. In the Democratic Senate primary, Booker fared significantly better among voters who cast their ballots in person than those who did so by mail.
While McGrath had support from Senate Democrats’ campaign arm and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Booker earned late endorsements from liberal stalwarts such as Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. McGrath has vouched for a more centrist policy platform than Booker, who has embraced plans for a single-payer “Medicare for All” system and a Green New Deal energy and jobs program.
A Booker win would have added to apparent triumphs for liberal candidates in congressional primaries last week. Jamaal Bowman, a Black middle school principal, leads Rep. Eliot Engel in the Democratic primary for New York’s 16th District, while Black lawyer and activist Mondaire Jones leads the primary to succeed retiring Democratic Rep. Nita Lowey in the state’s 17th District. Both men ran on progressive platforms.
McGrath faces a challenge in trying to unseat McConnell. The senator won his last election in 2014 by more than 15 percentage points.
Article source: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/30/kentucky-senate-primary-results-charles-booker-vs-amy-mcgrath.html