This is former Marine fighter pilot Amy McGrath and why she’s running for Senate: “I’m battle-tested”
Former Marine fighter pilot Amy McGrath is making a second bid to be Kentucky’s U.S. senator to replace retiring Mitch McConnell who she lost to in 2020.
Senator Mitch McConnell is retiring from the U.S. Senate when his term ends, setting up an open race for his seat in 2026. Republican and Democratic candidates are already throwing their hats in the ring for their respective primaries, among them is Amy McGrath.
The retired fighter pilot, who was the first woman to fly in an F/A-18 in combat for the Marines and flew 89 combat missions in her 20-year career, launched her campaign on 6 October vowing to be “a bulwark against authoritarianism” in a statement announcing her candidacy.
“Kentuckians deserve someone battle-tested and ready to fight for them on day one,” McGrath wrote in her campaign launch post across social media platforms.
“Battle-tested” Amy McGrath vies to be next U.S. senator for Kentucky
This isn’t McGrath’s first dive into national politics. She tried to unseat the incumbent McConnell, who is currently serving his seventh term in the U.S. Senate. In 2020 she got a shellacking, losing by more than 400,000 votes. That despite spending over $90-million from her war chest.
She also ran for Congress to represent Kentucky’s 6th Congressional District in 2018, but lost to the GOP candidate, now U.S. Representative Andy Barr. That was a closer race, losing by just a three-percent margin of the votes.
Barr is also running to take McConnell’s seat in the GOP primary. He threw down the glove with her announcement posting on X: “Bring it on, Amy. This will be fun. I beat you once, and I’ll beat you again.”
First, Barr will have to come out on top of the GOP primary field which includes former Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron and Lexington businessman Nate Morris.
Our democracy is under siege, cowards in Washington are bowing to Donald Trump, and Kentuckians are paying the price. Kentuckians deserve someone battle-tested and ready to fight for them on day one. I’ve spent my life stepping up when the mission was tough and the stakes were… pic.twitter.com/NzT9FXMGQc
— Amy McGrath (@AmyMcGrathKY) October 6, 2025
Candidates on the Democratic side of the field include attorney and former U.S. Secret Service agent Logan Forsythe, state lawmaker and former military judge advocate general Pamela Stevenson, and former CIA officer and military veteran Joel Willett.
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