Democrat Charles Booker strongly hints he'll challenge Rand Paul for Kentucky Senate seat

Charles Booker made a run at Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's (R-Ky.) seat in 2020, but ultimately lost a tight Democratic primary race to Amy McGrath, whom McConnell defeated handily in the general election. Now, the 36-year-old seems ready to launch another campaign.

It'll be Sen. Rand Paul's (R-Ky.) turn to defend his seat in the upper chamber in 2022, and Booker, who announced Monday that he's "strongly considering" a run, seems likely to be his most high-profile challenger and the Democratic primary favorite.

Paul's seat appears to be fairly safe — he won by double digits in his previous two campaigns — but Booker's comments raised some eyebrows, especially since, if he does indeed run, he should have more weight behind him next year than he did in 2020, when he was an upstart candidate and McGrath had the backing of the national Democratic Party. Tim O'Donnell

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