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We got a developing story on our hands that could be considered a relief to Kentucky Democrats and even national Democrats. Kentucky Secretary of State, Alison Lundergan Grimes is set to announce that she will challenge Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in the 2014 Senate election.
This race was initially hyped up as a showdown between activist actress Ashley Judd and the sixth-term Republican incumbent. However after a couple of months, Judd decided to announce that she would not enter the race; much to the chagrin of some and Grimes was then hyped up as the next big challenger.
While Grimes will not be the potential progressive rockstar that Judd would’ve been, she probably represents the best chance the Democrats have at flipping this seat blue. The Democrats have two quasi-realistic chances in playing offensive and that’s in Kentucky and in Georgia which Michelle Nunn could potentially beat a more conservative challenger such as Paul Broun or Phil Gingrey.
Nonetheless, Grimes is a rising star in Kentucky and she’s very young (only 34) as well as being someone who is well-connected in the Bluegrass State as she’s the daughter of former Kentucky Democratic chairman, Jerry Lundergan. She also has proven to be able to get the votes out as she received the highest amount of votes of any Democratic candidate in the 2011 elections which is a boon to her campaign skills.
Still, this won’t be easy as McConnell is an institution and he can raise millions with a couple blink of the eyes and a few handshakes. McConnell is as establishment of a candidate as you could possibly get and taking him down in, especially in a midterm, will not be an easy feat. However if anyone in Kentucky has a shot, her name is Alison Lundergan Grimes or ALG for short.
Grimes will join contractor Ed Marksberry in the race who definitely fits the mold of a progressive but it’ll be hard for him to make much of a dent given the likely coalescing behind Grimes.