Federal coronavirus response dominates Kentucky Senate race
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's prominent role in the federal response to the coronavirus pandemic has become Topic A in his bitter campaign against Democratic challenger Amy McGrath, providing fodder for both sides.
McConnell boasts about the billions in relief money delivered to Kentucky, while McGrath claims the Republican senator has put corporate interests ahead of out-of-work Kentuckians.
Dueling TV commercials in the high-spending Kentucky campaign have crystallized an issue that is dominating the political landscape heading toward the November election.
In McConnell's latest campaign ad debuting Tuesday, several people credit the aid they received from the Paycheck Protection Program for saving their small businesses and preserving jobs. As a western Kentucky barbecue restaurant owner put it: the PPP “saved our butts."
The commercial appears aimed at countering a recent McGrath ad claiming McConnell prioritized his “special interest friends" over the plight of unemployed Kentuckians.
With coronavirus cases surging in Kentucky, putting the state's tenuous economic recovery at risk, the pandemic looms as the dominant issue as McConnell seeks a seventh term and McGrath tries to unseat him in an underdog campaign backed by a massive campaign fund.
“This is an issue that combines the two issues that are typically one and two for Kentucky voters — jobs and health care," said longtime Kentucky political commentator Al Cross.
The bickering comes as the Senate prepares to discuss a new round of federal virus-related aid. McConnell met with President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday to discuss the next package. In a Senate speech Tuesday, McConnell echoed messaging coming from the White House when he argued for the...
