Some big news today out of Kentucky:
Staffers on Amy McGrath’s Senate campaign in Kentucky are beginning the process of joining a union a week after she won the Democratic primary in the Bluegrass State.
McGrath said in a statement that she would support her staffers’ decision to join the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers chapter in Louisville, saying she’s been a strong supporter of unions.
“Unions are the backbone of our state’s economy, and I strongly support the right of workers to organize and engage in collective bargaining. That’s why from the beginning of this campaign I’ve made sure that everyone on staff (even interns) earns at least $15 an hour and receives health care coverage. Workers’ rights have been hard won, and my campaign is proud to be a part of that movement,” she said.
Very glad to see this. CNN’s Chris Cillizza makes the case that while this may be an uphill race, McGrath’s candidacy will force Republicans to spend a lot of money to protect their Majority Leader:
National Democrats won't likely admit it, publicly at least, but they aren't likely terribly concerned about McGrath's uneven performance on the campaign trail against McConnell as long as she can keep raising tens of millions of dollars to attack the Senate Majority Leader between now and November. Because if she can raise, let's say, $80 million total, then McConnell and the national Republican Party apparatus are also going to have to spend heavily to ensure he wins again -- despite the clear Republican lean of the state at the federal level. (The last Democrat to win a Senate race in Kentucky was Sen. Wendell Ford back in 1992.)
And this is where strategy comes in. Remember that the amount of money -- via national parties and super PACS -- that will be spent on the battle for the Senate is finite. Let's, for the sake of explaining how this works, say there is $200 million that Republican committees and super PACs have to spend on all of the Senate races in the country this fall. (The actual number is likely to be much, MUCH higher than that.)
McConnell, because he is not only the most powerful Republican in the Senate but also because he raised tens of millions for the party and its related super PACs (of which the major one is staffed by longtime McConnell allies), will get as much money from these groups as he needs to win. So, let's say that $20 million gets spent on the Kentucky race to make sure that McConnell is insulated from the TV ad onslaught that McGrath's fundraising can buy.
Well, that's $20 million that can't be spent on trying to reelect Arizona Sen. Martha McSally. Or Maine Sen. Susan Collins. Or North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis. Or Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler. You get the idea.
And then there's this to consider: If McConnell, the best fundraiser among Senate Republicans, is focused on raising money for his own reelection race, he can't raise as much money for all of those senators I just named above. Ditto for if he is pinned down in Kentucky rather than traveling across the country for events to collect cash for the most vulnerable GOP incumbents.
That's a BIG deal. And likely would not have been the case if Booker managed to topple McGrath in the primary.
Either way, I think we need to fight hard to get rid of Moscow Mitch once and for all. McGrath deserves our support and we need to help her win big. Click here to donate and get involved with McGrath’s campaign.