Paul-Booker fall matchup set in Kentucky Senate race

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Republican U.S. Sen. Rand Paul won his party’s nomination Tuesday to seek a third term, setting up a campaign of contrasting agendas that pits his vision for limited government against Democratic challenger Charles Booker’s support for sweeping health care and anti-poverty programs.

The libertarian-leaning Paul coasted to victory over five little-known Republican challengers in his pursuit of another term. Booker, a Black former state lawmaker, defeated three primary opponents to become the latest nominee to try to break Kentucky Democrats’ long losing streak in U.S. Senate races. The Bluegrass State hasn’t elected a Democrat to the Senate since Wendell Ford in 1992.

Paul, who ran unsuccessfully for president in 2016, has gained a national voice in promoting a philosophy of limited government and restraint in U.S. foreign policy. He’s known for going his own way at times in the Senate. Last week, Paul defied leaders of both parties and single-handedly delayed Senate approval of an additional $40 billion to help Ukraine and its allies withstand Russia’s invasion.

The senator’s libertarian leanings have included denouncing what he saw as government overreach in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Paul has waged high-profile clashes with Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country’s top infectious disease expert, over the federal government’s coronavirus policies and the origins of the virus that caused the global pandemic. He has used those disputes to raise campaign contributions.

Booker faces a daunting task in trying to unseat Paul. Kentucky has tilted decidedly toward the GOP and Paul holds a commanding fundraising advantage over his Democratic challenger.

Booker gained the nomination after coming up just short in his prior Senate bid. In 2020, his campaign surged as his racial and economic justice message coincided with nationwide protests over the deaths of Black Americans in encounters with police. He barely lost the Senate primary that year to an establishment-backed rival who was routed by Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell in the general election.

Back with the same “hood to the holler” campaign theme, Booker was the frontrunner from the outset in this year’s Democratic primary. He promotes such social programs as Medicare for All and a basic universal income, saying it would uplift people from poor urban neighborhoods and struggling Appalachian towns to other corners of the state.

Paul, an ardent free-market advocate, sees such social programs as an encroachment by an overly expansive federal government.

After years of reinforcing his image as a political outsider, Paul could be on the verge of gaining more influence in the Senate if ultimately reelected to another term. The senator says he is in line to assume a committee chairmanship if the GOP wins Senate control after the November election. The Senate now has a 50-50 split, but Democrats have a slim edge because Vice President Kamala Harris holds a tie-breaking vote.