LEXINGTON, Ky. — Four Democrats running to replace Sen. Mitch McConnell debated Tuesday night on how they could flip the script and win a U.S. Senate in Kentucky — something that hasn’t been done since 1992.

Former state Rep. Charles Booker, former U.S. Senate and House candidate Amy McGrath, Louisville horse trainer Dale Romans and state House Minority Floor Leader Pamela Stevenson all said at a debate hosted by Spectrum News Tuesday that they could flip the seat, which McConnell is leaving at the end of the year.

Candidates talked through major issues in the Democratic Party like affordability, health care, the conflict of Iran, U.S. relations with Israel, immigration and more.

On the federal stage, the Kentucky Democratic Party has been in the been in the wilderness for more than a decade. No Democrat has held a U.S. Senate seat since the late Wendell Ford exited politics in 1998, and no Democrat outside of Louisville’s 3rd Congressional District has held a U.S. House seat since 2012.

Stevenson, who ran for attorney general unsuccessfully in 2023, struck a progressive chord and cast herself as a movement builder with experience working across the aisle.

Romans said he was the most moderate of the bunch, and that combined with his unorthodox background as a horse trainer, could carry the day in November in a way that the party hasn’t come close to doing since 2004, when a Democrat nearly defeated late Sen. Jim Bunning.

McGrath said that she was the most proven candidate at winning over moderates and independents, while refraining from casting herself as too moderate or too progressive.

Booker argued that his uniquely progressive approach — he’s called for a general strike, universal basic income and Medicare for All — would win the day despite Kentucky’s conservative electorate. Booker said he believes “the candidate with the boldest vision is who is most likely to win.”

All candidates agreed that most actions of President Donald Trump have been misguided, and that major efforts of his, like the “Big, Beautiful Bill,” and changes to immigration enforcement, need to be rolled back.

Democratic candidates who did not meet Spectrum News’ threshold to join the debate stage — they limited it to candidates who either raised $100,000 from outside sources or had previously appeared on the ballot in a statewide election — include Lexington attorney Logan Forsythe and Vincent Anthony Thompson.

There were, however, significant areas of disagreement on electability, Israel and more.

Democrats in detail

The first question of the night from Spectrum News host Mario Anderson was on electability given Democrats’ woes at the ballot box.

Romans gave the most explicit case: he thinks he’s the most moderate, and that will help, repeating the line that “the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.”

“We need to start governing from the center. You know, I’m not a lawyer, not college-educated. I never was in the military, but I think I have a PhD in life, and I think that that would do me a lot of good when I go to Washington,” Romans said.

McGrath’s argument was more circumstantial. With Beshear having won reelection by five points in 2023, this year’s open seat and more Americans growing leery of Trump’s presidency given high prices, health care cuts, and conflict in the Middle East pave the way for someone like her to win.

Stevenson leaned on her experience in the legislature, where she recently became leader of the House Democratic Caucus.

Booker said the voters would put trust in his consistent activism for progressive policies, which he argued has had crossover appeal.

“The people of Kentucky need a proven leader who will stand on the front line in the streets, on the picket line in the halls of government, lifting up a vision to put more money in their pocket to make sure they don’t have to ration their medicine, to make sure they can live a good life,” Booker said.

On the matter of affordability — a political buzzword that Democrats and Republicans alike have leapt on with Americans still concerned about prices — they all pushed back hard on Trump’s agenda.

“This tariff policy that was unilaterally put in place by our president and championed by our Republicans in Congress is a tax on all of us. It hurts our bourbon industry, hurts our farmers, hurts all of us at the checkout (line). Let’s repeal that, and then let’s get back these Affordable Care Act subsidies. Why? Because right now, people can’t afford health care,” McGrath said.

All three candidates essentially agreed with McGrath’s analysis of Trump’s economic policy, offering criticism of the president in that regard.

Similarly, all were against the conflict in Iran, which Trump initiated alongside Israel in late February.

McGrath, a former U.S. Marines fighter pilot, excoriated the cost of war, which is running around $1 billion per day, and cited previous conflicts in the Middle East she characterized as needless.

“We spent 20 years and $3 trillion to replace the Taliban with the Taliban in Afghanistan,” McGrath quipped.

Booker tied expensive military campaigns to his own progressive policies. He argued “it’s always said that change isn’t possible until it happens.” He linked the U.S. spending on military action to the inability of Congress to pass his preferred policies.

“I believe that if we can find endless wars, we can fund Medicare for all. If we can fund endless wars, we can fund food support for our children. If we can fund endless wars, we can make sure that no one has to struggle,” Booker said.

Stevenson struck a similar chord on cost for policies.

“We put a man on the moon when we said it was impossible,” she said. “If we’re brave enough, we can make sure that working families have the things they need.”

The candidates largely kept to themselves on the debate stage, eschewing bickering sessions and focusing on their own platforms. There was one notable moment when discussing Israel, however.

In discussion of Israel’s role in American politics, Booker called Israel’s campaign in Gaza — where more than 70,000 are estimated to have been killed in the country’s response to Hamas’ surprise attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1,200 Israelis — a genocide. That’s been seen as a dividing line among some Democrats in more progressive states.

Romans went on the offense when Booker reiterated his commitment to take no money from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, also known as AIPAC.

“First of all, you’re not gonna take money from AIPAC because they’re not gonna offer you any money. So it’s easy to stand up here and point your finger,” Romans said.

Romans went on to affirm that he “can’t be bought,” but “if AIPAC wants to send some money, I’ll take it, because it takes money to win a race. I won’t be ashamed of it.”

Including Booker, the other candidates indicated they would not take AIPAC money. McGrath mentioned that she “agreed with Dale,” but later said she would not take the funds into her campaign.

On immigration, they found more common ground. All of the candidates had harsh words for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection, which has been under heightened scrutiny since the high-profile killings of two American citizens in Minnesota this winter.

Booker and Stevenson said they would abolish ICE, a popular call among many national progressives. Romans and McGrath did not say they’d do so, but offered serious criticisms and pushed for big reforms in its use of force.

In the candidates’ only “lightning round” yes or no question, they were asked if they’d abolish the filibuster, the U.S. Senate rule essentially limiting most legislation without a 60-member majority from passing. Hardline conservatives and progressives alike have argued in favor of doing so to enact more dramatic and impactful legislation.

Booker was the only one to say yes. Romans was the only one to say no. Neither McGrath nor Stevenson gave definitive answers, but seemed open to “fixing” established rules that they see as broken.

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