KENTUCKY
      Nov. 8, 2022 U.S. Senate                                      

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+Rand Paul (R) i
913,257
 		61.81%
Charles Booker (D)
 564,231
 		38.19%
write-ins
 134

1,477,622
  
Voter Registration: 3,590,227.
Plurality: 349,026 votes (23.62 percentage points).
 KY Secretary of State



Notes:  Sen. Rand Paul (R), who has established a high profile as a libertarian-minded member of the Senate, won a third term, defeating former state Rep. Charles Booker (D) (1, 2). The last time a Democrat won a U.S. Senate seat in Kentucky was Wendell Ford in 1992. 

The race presented sharp ideological differences.  Booker advocated for a Kentucky New Deal (+), while supporters of Paul labeled Booker a "woke socialist (+)."

Paul officially filed for re-election on Jan. 4, 2022.  Booker, from Louisville's West End, formed an exploratory committee in April 2021 and formally announced his candidacy on July 1 (>).  He gained national attention in 2020 when he sought the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate and finished a close second to the establishment-backed candidate Amy McGrath in the June 23 primary.  Both Paul and Booker easily defeated little known candidates in their respective primaries on May 17. 

There were no debates.  KET scheduled a forum for Oct. 3, but Paul did not respond to the invitation and cited the Booker campaign's "advocacy for violence" in explanation; Booker appeared on a half-hour edition of KET's "Kentucky Tonight" (>).

Paul had a huge fundraising advantage.  Open Secrets shows that  the Paul campaign raised $27.6 million, spent $22.4 million and had $5.4 million in cash on hand compared to $6.4 million raised and spent for the Booker campaign (>).  


Campaign Managers
Rand Paul:  Jake Cox
(Oct. 2021)  Director of research and digital strategy (Jan. 2019-Oct. 2021) and research director and deputy comunications director (June 2016-Jan. 2019) for the Republican Party of Kentucky.  Strategic communications consultant on Rand Paul for Senate, July-Nov. 2016. Senate research analyst (Jan. 2015-June 2016) and field research/political tracker (June 2013-Jan. 2015) for America Rising LLC.  B.A. in political science from Appalachian State University, 2013; student body president, Apr. 2013-Apr. 2013.

Charles Booker:  Bianca Keaton
(July 2021)  Recently chair of Gwinnett Co. (GA) Democrats.  Women's constituency director for the Democratic Party of Georgia, Aug.-Nov. 2018.  Assistant to Cobb County Commissioner Lisa Cupid.  Aide to U.S. Reps. Robert Brady and Cedric Richmond.  B.S. in political science and government from Spelman College.


See also:
Pat McGee, director.  "From the Hood to the Holler."  Pat McGee Pictures, Sept. 2022.  [documentary on Booker's 2020 campaign]

Bruce Schreiner.  "Paul opens huge fundraising edge in Kentucky Senate race"  AP, Feb. 1, 2022.

John Nichols.  "Charles Booker Knows Just How to Tackle Rand Paul in 2022."  The Nation, Apr. 16, 2021.




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