Booker’s announcement is a step towards officially announcing his candidacy, but he has long been seen as a leading Democratic prospect for the Senate race in Kentucky in 2022. The formation of a committee of inquiry enables Booker to vote, by traveling the state, making phone calls and raising funds while testing the waters, without officially declaring himself a candidate.
Despite the strong name recognition that Booker received in last year’s Senate campaign, the former Louisville lawmaker would face an uphill battle against Paul in Republican Kentucky – a state that has not been a Democrat in Wendell Ford since 1992. Senate did not elect.
Last year, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell defeated well-funded Democratic challenger Amy McGrath, who narrowly defeated Booker in the state’s Democratic primary.
In response to Booker’s announcement Monday, Paul’s spokeswoman Kelsey Cooper said Kentuckians “know that there is no greater campaigner for the values they hold dear,” than Paul.
“And as President Trump said in his recent ratification, Dr. Paul has a proven track record of fighting the liberal Washington agenda,” she said.
Paul, an eye surgeon, will seek his third Senate term in 2022.
Booker used the momentum in last year’s Democratic Senate primary last year on the basis of a “Hood to the Holler” campaign that defended the common interests of Black Democrats in cities and middle- and low-income white people. emphasizing the mountains of eastern Kentucky – what he collectively defined as ‘people in forgotten places’.
He returned to these themes in his announcement on social media on Monday. Booker referred to the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor in her home during a kicked police attack last year.
“When our sister’s door was kicked in, we pulled up,” Booker said. “The choices have changed Kentucky forever.”
Last week, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear signed a partial ban on no warrants after months of protests sparked by Taylor’s death. Taylor, a 26-year-old Louisville medical emergency technician studying to become a nurse, was shot several times in March 2020 after being pulled from her bed by police. No drugs were found, and the warrant was later found to be defective.
In its announcement, Booker also insisted on good quality guaranteed health care for all and a Green New Deal in coal-producing Kentucky to ensure a healthy planet for generations. ‘