But in the last three weeks, progressive state Rep. Charles Booker, the youngest Black state lawmaker elected in Kentucky in nearly a century, has interrupted McGrath’s quiet stroll to the nomination.

The shifting race has turned the supposedly deep red state of Kentucky into the latest battleground between a more pragmatic Democratic establishment urging caution and a progressive insurgency arguing that the party should move faster to address the urgent needs of voters ― especially as a devastating pandemic, the economic collapse it has caused and a nationwide outburst of protests expose the country’s deep failings on health care, the economy, racial equality and American democracy itself.

Among progressives, it fueled the idea that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which officially backed McGrath in February of this year, had merely wanted a talented and inoffensive fundraiser who could occupy McConnell’s attention and money leading up to the election while the party chased more winnable seats elsewhere.

Beating McConnell is a near-impossible task no matter what tack a Democratic candidate takes, but early in the 2020 cycle, some in the state were eager to test the reverse strategy: a full-on fight against McConnell that prioritized the Democratic base and then tried to make the math work with suburban converts and a handful of more conservative rural Democrats who like Trump and dislike the national Democratic Party but might be wooed back with the right sort of message.

‘From The Hood To The Holler’

Booker, who worked in state government and Democratic politics before winning his state legislative seat in 2018, jumped into the Senate race in November with a stirring two-minute video that went after McConnell in righteous terms: “You know the name of the man I’m talking about, but he doesn’t know your name,” Booker said.