# Charles Booker **Charles Booker** is the Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate seat [[Mitch McConnell]] is vacating in Kentucky. He faces Rep. [[Andy Barr]] on November 3, 2026, in a race every major forecaster rates **Solid or Safe Republican** (Cook, Sabato, Inside Elections). The vault previously had "Likely R," an April rating. See [[KY-Sen-2026]]. ## Background A Louisville progressive, Booker served one term in the Kentucky House (District 43, 2019–21). He built a national profile in the 2020 Senate primary, running on the police killing of Breonna Taylor in Louisville, and lost narrowly to Amy McGrath, **42.6% to 45.4%**. He was the 2022 nominee against [[Rand Paul]] and lost **38.1% to 61.8%**. ## The 2026 primaries (May 19) | Democratic primary | % | |---|---:| | **Booker** | **46.8** | | Amy McGrath | 35.9 | | Pamela Stevenson | 6.2 | | Dale Romans | 4.1 | On the Republican side Barr beat former Attorney General [[Daniel Cameron]] **60.5% to 30.8%**. Businessman [[Nate Morris]] dropped out on May 1 after Trump endorsed Barr, and was later nominated as ambassador to Colombia. ## The general election The money is lopsided. As of June 30, 2026 Barr had raised $9.98 million to Booker's $1.10 million, with $2.31 million cash on hand to Booker's $310,000. Outside groups had spent $5.9 million for Barr and $8.3 million against him, nearly all in the primary; Booker had $25,000 in outside support. The only public polls are Democratic: Global Strategy Group (August) had Barr 49, Booker 40. Booker's case is that an anti-incumbent year and the end of McConnell's four decades in the seat give a populist Democrat an opening. The numbers so far do not show one. ## See Also - [[KY-Sen-2026]] · [[Andy Barr]] · [[Daniel Cameron]] · [[Nate Morris]] · [[Mitch McConnell]] · [[Rand Paul]] - [[2026 Midterms Hub]]