Tagged: 2014 U.S. Senate Race

Now it's Heather French Henry's turn.

The former Miss America has joined a list of half a dozen party activists or leaders waiting for Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes to decide whether she'll run in 2014 against Mitch McConnell for his U.S. Senate seat. 

If Grimes runs, she's likely to get enough support to clear out the field. Otherwise, the Democrats have potential candidates known within political circles, but who may be not instantly recognizable with the majority of voters—former state Democratic Party Chairman Bill Gorman or environmental activist Tom FitzGerald, for example.

Senator Mitch McConnell's next election is a year and a half away…and he doesn't have a serious opponent. But this hasn't stopped him from amassing significant money and personnel for his re-election. 

Every week, new field directors, political staff and fundraisers join the effort to re-elect McConnell. But while they have the same goal, they don't have the same boss. Some of the staffers work for McConnell's campaign. Others for the Republican Party of Kentucky. And others work for SuperPACs.

Yesterday, WFPL News reported that Progress Kentucky, a liberal Super PAC, was behind the secret recording of a recent campaign strategy session between Senator Mitch McConnell and his re-election team.  The story has exploded, and it's the second time Progress Kentucky has drawn national headlines. And as Kentucky Public Radio's Gabe Bullard reports, neither incident has done the group any favors.

U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell has asked the FBI to find out who placed a recording device in his Louisville campaign office and recorded a private meeting held on February 2nd.   That recording was of Republican McConnell and his aides strategizing about potential democratic opponents in next year’s election. A transcript of the discussion was published today in Mother Jones magazine and the senator’s aides are heard talking about research into actress Ashley Judd’s religion and mental health. At the time, Judd was considering a challenge to McConnell.