Taking On The Grim Reaper

Amy McGrath, a former fighter pilot, wants to challenge Mitch McConnell, arguably the most powerful man in Washington

- Nicole Goodkind

IT REQUIRES NERVES OF STEEL TO TAKE ON MITCH McConnell, arguably the most powerful man in Washington. But Amy McGrath has already been to war and back, three times. The 44-year-old retired Lieutenant Colonel, an Independent-turned-Democrat, is challenging the self-declared Grim Reaper for the Senate seat he’s clung onto since 1985.

McGrath has had tougher, though. During her 20-year career with the Marines, she became the first woman to fly in a F/A-18 fighter jet in combat and took on 89 missions in the Middle East, fighting Al-Qaeda and Taliban insurgents. When she retired into civilian life in 2017, she was dismayed by what she saw as a lack of action in Congress so she ran for office in a district that voted for Trump by 15.3 points. She lost by only three points—a small enough margin to encourage her to give it another go.

There seems to be hope. Within 24 hours of announcing her latest run, McGrath raised $2.5 million, the most ever earned in the first day of a Senate campaign. McGrath intends to run a campaign based on road maps devised by two successful red-state fighters: former El Paso Congressman Beto O’Rourke and Alabama Senator Doug Jones. The O’Rourke model: visit every county and talk to as many voters as you can. Jones’ strategy? Stick to kitchen-table issues and stress your willingness to work with Republicans. She’s already found a niche with Kentucky’s coal miners, who she says feel abandoned by McConnell. They feature in a video by her campaign that has been viewed nearly 3 million times. But her campaign hasn’t been without controversy; two miners featured in the ad said they did not know their images were being used for political purposes and asked not to be included. The miners claim they were told filming was for a documentary, but the McGrath campaign contends they were told what the footage would be used for.