Dueling Ads in the Kentucky Senate Race
The Kentucky Senate race — likely pitting Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell against Democratic challenger, and former Marine fighter pilot, Amy McGrath — is playing out on the airwaves. But the recent TV ads don’t always square with the facts.
- In one ad, McGrath charges that McConnell opposed further federal relief to states hurt by the coronavirus pandemic, adding, “It’s why he said we should just declare bankruptcy.” That’s not what McConnell said. The senator said bankruptcy should be a legal option for states facing money woes unrelated to the coronavirus, such as debt due to pension programs.
- In another TV spot, the McConnell camp highlights a 2018 audio clip of McGrath saying, “I am further left, I am more progressive than anybody in the state of Kentucky.” The McGrath camp charges the audio is “doctored” in a way to alter her meaning. Meanwhile, the McConnell camp hasn’t — and wouldn’t when we asked — release the full audio from the event, leaving the dispute at an impasse for fact-checking.
- The McConnell camp also claims McGrath supports abortion “even in the 9th month,” pointing to a 2018 interview in which she didn’t answer whether she supported limitations. But she has since said she supports current restrictions.
McGrath, who unsuccessfully ran for a House seat in 2018, is vying to unseat McConnell, who was first elected to the Senate in 1984 and has been the Senate majority leader since 2015. Polls taken in January showed a possible general election race could be tight, assuming McGrath wins the party’s nomination. The Democratic primary is June 23.
McConnell’s ‘Bankruptcy’ and ‘Blue State Bailout’ Remarks
The McGrath TV ad, which began airing May 16, according to Advertising Analytics, features McGrath saying, “What is leadership? And where are we seeing it in the middle of everything we’re going through right now?” She then mentions Republican Govs. Mike DeWine of Ohio and Larry Hogan of Maryland, as well as Democratic Govs. Andrew Cuomo of
