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Republican Mitch McConnell has been re-elected over his opponent Democrat Bruce Lunsford.
Lunsford is a Northern Kentucky native who won the aid of the national Democratic Party that saw a chance to knock off the Republican.
McConnell won a lopsided victory six years ago against Democrat Lois Combs Weinberg, with 64.7 percent of the vote to her 35.3 percent. But things this year were very different for McConnell, who has carried the troubled GOP mantle during the Bush Administration and is running amid a faltering economy.
McConnell, 66, of Louisville has a long political career. His first elected office was as Jefferson County judge-executive, winning re-election three times, from 1978 to 1985. While judge-executive – and at a time when Democrats ruled across the state –he beat out incumbent Democrat Sen. Walter “Dee” Huddleston. McConnell was sworn into the U.S. Senate in 1985, and has held the seat ever since.
McConnell’s been named the architect of the modern Republican Party in Kentucky, and the state GOP headquarters in Frankfort carries his name.
Well-known on the national stage, he was also elected Senate Republican leader in 2006, the same year the Democrats took narrow control of the Senate. He’s married to Bush Labor Secretary Elaine Chao and has three daughters.
Lunsford, a Kenton County native, is a 60-year-old wealthy Louisville businessman and nursing home operator. He also owns several thoroughbreds.
Lunsford ran for Kentucky governor twice, in 2003 and 2007. He dropped out of the 2003 primary days before the election after his poll numbers plummeted.
In 2007, he lost in the primary, coming in second to Gov. Steve Beshear. He won this year’s Senate primary with 51 percent of the vote. He is the father of three.
Before this year’s election Lunsford had fallen out with the Kentucky Democratic establishment after endorsing one-term Republican Gov. Ernie Fletcher in 2003. He’s since said the endorsement was a mistake.
