Mitch McConnell, five-term Senate incumbent, says he's the 'change' candidate in Kentucky

Mitch McConnell, five-term Senate incumbent, says he&#039;s the &#039;change&#039; candidate in Kentucky

(Image credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

last updated 8 January 2015

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is facing what is expected to be a tough re-election battle against Democratic challenger Allison Lundergan Grimes, Kentucky's secretary of state. She has made the incumbent's long tenure in the Senate a major theme of her campaign, arguing that he is emblematic of all that's wrong with Washington, D.C., and that fresh blood is necessary.

This weekend, at the annual Fancy Farm picnic in western Kentucky, McConnell struck back with a novel argument, declaring that he is the true "change" candidate in the race. The 35-year-old Grimes was "a new face for the status quo," he said. He also spoke to Eliana Johnson at National Review:

"Oddly enough," McConnell tells me in an interview, "even though I've been around for a while, if you want change, I'm the vote you oughta cast." [National Review]

McConnell won his first Senate race in 1984.