Kentucky State Representative Charles Booker went ahead of Amy McGrath, a retired Navy lieutenant colonel, in the United States Senate Democratic primary race to determine who will face Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in November. .
With 12 percent of the state’s constituency reports, Booker, whose candidacy has been supported by lawmakers and progressive groups across the country, led McGrath from 45.1 percent to 40.2 percent, or just over 3,200. votes, according to NBC News.
The race is still too close to call, NBC News projects.
The current count includes only the votes cast in person at Tuesday’s polls. Hundreds of thousands of mail ballots that are likely to determine the outcome of the race have not yet been counted and will not be for days.
The latest results show that another 2 percent of the precincts have been counted, most of which appear to be from Jefferson County, which includes Louisville, where Booker is from. About 7.5 percent of the votes in Jefferson County have been counted.
As recently as Wednesday night, at 10 percent of newsrooms, McGrath led Booker 44 percent to 39.6 percent, a margin of just over 2,000 votes.
The Kentucky Secretary of State said 161,238 people voted in person on Tuesday. As of Tuesday morning, 530,196 of the 867,842 ballots sent before Election Day had already been returned. Any ballot mailed prior to Election Day will be counted.
McGrath, who has the backing of several established Democrats, saw early enthusiasm for his candidacy after he launched his campaign last year.
As of June 3, she had raised more than $ 41 million, according to the most recent submissions. But she had to use that ad money to fight a belated rise in Booker, which supports “Medicare for All,” the Green New Deal and universal basic income, and campaigned against inequality and racial injustice.
Booker, who entered the race only in January, joined protests over the police murder of Breonna Taylor, a Louisville woman who was shot dead in her apartment on March 13 by police executing a “no hit order. “, and obtained the endorsement of the senator. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. And Ocasio-Cortez, among others.
