Democrat Amy McGrath launches comeback bid in seeking the seat of retiring Sen. Mitch McConnell

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Democrat Amy McGrath, a retired Marine aviator, on Monday entered the Senate campaign in Kentucky, vowing to be a “bulwark against authoritarianism” in launching a comeback bid after being trounced by Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell in 2020.

McGrath joins a growing field of Republicans and Democrats competing in the 2026 midterms for the seat occupied since the mid-1980s by McConnell, who is retiring when his current term ends.

Once seen as a rising Democratic star in a GOP-dominated state, McGrath touted her combat experience but lost elections for Congress in 2018 and the Senate two years later. McGrath flew in 89 combat missions against al-Qaeda and the Taliban during her 20-year Marine career.

“I swore an oath to defend this country against all enemies, foreign and domestic,” McGrath said in a statement Monday. “Running for Senate is an extension of that oath. I’ll be a bulwark against authoritarianism and threats to our democracy. Even if we don’t see eye to eye on every issue, you’ll always know where I stand: on the side of Kentucky and democracy.”

With a reputation for blunt talk, McGrath condemned Republican President Donald Trump in a video announcing her candidacy Monday.

“What we’re seeing in this country, from this president, not normal. Dangerous for Kentuckians and for all Americans,” she said.

McGrath said in the statement that she entered the race to prevent a “Trump-aligned candidate from securing an easy path to the Senate.”

Republicans in the race include U.S. Rep. Andy Barr, former state Attorney General Daniel Cameron and businessman Nate Morris. The GOP hopefuls speak glowingly of Trump, hoping to land his endorsement in a state that Trump overwhelmingly carried in the last three presidential elections.

Other Democrats in the Senate race include Pamela Stevenson, a state lawmaker and former military judge advocate general; Logan Forsythe, an attorney and former U.S. Secret Service agent; and Joel Willett, a military veteran and former CIA officer.

Kentucky hasn’t elected a Democrat to the Senate since Wendell Ford in 1992.

In 2020, McGrath was a prolific fundraiser as Democrats nationwide poured money into her campaign in hopes of seeing McConnell unseated. Instead, she was trounced as McConnell won a seventh term to build on his legacy as Kentucky’s longest-serving U.S. senator.

Two years earlier, McGrath lost a hard-fought election to Barr in a district that stretches from central Kentucky’s bluegrass region to the Appalachian foothills. Barr got a big boost that year from Trump, who appeared at a campaign rally in the district.

“Andy Barr and President Trump beat Amy McGrath once, and they’ll do it again,” Alex Bellizzi, a Barr campaign spokesman, said in a statement Monday.

McGrath said Monday that this time she’s ready to “complete the mission.”

“I’ve spent my life stepping up when the mission was tough and the stakes were high,” she said in her statement.

More recently, McGrath started Honor Bound, Inc., a nonprofit committed to leadership development for women with a service background and encourages those women to run for elected office. She also founded several pro-democracy organizations.