The McConnell Center's mission includes four major components: The McConnell Scholars Program, Public Lecture Series, Civic Education Program, and U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell and Secretary Elaine L. Chao Archives. The core of the McConnell Center is the McConnell Scholarship, offered each year to ten high school seniors from the Commonwealth of Kentucky. These students, selected based upon their high school achievement, are offered tuition scholarships to the University of Louisville, as well as opportunities for travel, internships, meeting with influential policy makers and the opportunity to study abroad in China.[citation needed]
In November 2020, the wife of Judge Gregory F. Van Tatenhove, who had been a legislative aide of Senator Mitch McConnell, donated $250,000 to the McConnell Center.[7]
Elaine Lan Chao is an American businesswoman and former government official who served as United States secretary of labor in the administration of George W. Bush from 2001 to 2009 and as United States secretary of transportation in the administration of Donald Trump from 2017 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party, Chao was the first Asian Pacific American woman to serve in a presidential cabinet or as secretary of transportation.
Addison Mitchell McConnell III is an American politician and retired attorney who has been serving as Senate Minority Leader since 2021 and the senior United States senator from Kentucky since 1985. He previously served as minority leader from 2007 to 2015, majority leader from 2015 to 2021 and was majority whip from 2003 to 2007. McConnell has been the leader of the Senate Republican Conference since 2007 and is the longest serving Senate party leader in US history.
Walter Darlington "Dee" Huddleston was an American politician. He was a Democrat from Kentucky who represented the state in the United States Senate from 1973 until 1985. He was defeated for re-election in 1984 by Mitch McConnell by 5269 votes. Huddleston had a career in commercial broadcasting prior to entering politics.
The 2000 Republican National Convention convened at the First Union Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from July 31 to August 3, 2000. The 2000 delegates assembled at the convention nominated Texas Governor George W. Bush for president and former U.S. Secretary of Defense Richard B. "Dick" Cheney for vice president.
Gregory D. Stumbo is an American lawyer and former speaker of the Kentucky House of Representatives. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as Kentucky attorney general from 2004 to 2008. He was the Democratic candidate for the 2019 election for Attorney General.
Charles Merwin "Trey" Grayson III is an American politician and attorney who is a member at Frost Brown Todd and a principal at CivicPoint. A former Secretary of State of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, Grayson was a candidate in the 2010 Republican primary to replace retiring U.S. Senator Jim Bunning, losing to Rand Paul, the Tea Party favorite. He later was the director of the Harvard Institute of Politics. Grayson also served as CEO of the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce.
William Bruce Lunsford is an American attorney, businessman, and politician from Kentucky. He has served various roles in the Kentucky Democratic Party, including party treasurer, Deputy Development Secretary, and Head of Commerce. Lunsford was the Democratic nominee for Kentucky's United States Senate seat in 2008, unsuccessfully challenging incumbent Mitch McConnell.
Scott Jennings is an American writer and conservative commentator. He is an on-air contributor for CNN, and writes for CNN.com, USA Today, and the Los Angeles Times.
The 2008 United States Senate election in Kentucky was held on November 4, 2008. Minority Leader and incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell won re-election to a fifth term. Although Barack Obama lost Kentucky by a 16.22% margin to John McCain in the concurrent presidential election, McConnell more narrowly kept his seat with a 5.94% margin against businessman Bruce Lunsford. This was a greatly reduced margin from when he won re-election in 2002 with a 29.4% margin.
The 2008 congressional elections in Kentucky were held on November 4, 2008, to determine who would represent the state of Kentucky in the United States House of Representatives. Kentucky has six seats in the House, apportioned according to the 2000 United States census. Representatives are elected for two-year terms; those elected will serve in the 111th Congress from January 4, 2009, until January 3, 2011. The election coincides with the 2008 U.S. presidential election.
Gregory Frederick Van Tatenhove, also known as Greg Van Tatenhove, is a US district judge of the US District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky. He was a legislative aide of Senator Mitch McConnell, a law clerk for Judge Eugene Edward Siler Jr., US Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky (2001–05), and on the recommendation of Senators Jim Bunning and Mitch McConnell he was nominated to fill his current seat on the US District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky (2006–present). Daniel Cameron was a law clerk for Van Tatenhove, who later swore him in as Kentucky Attorney General.
Alison Case Lundergan Grimes is an American lawyer and Democratic politician who was the secretary of state of Kentucky from 2012 until 2020. Grimes was elected in 2011 after defeating incumbent Elaine Walker in the Democratic primary and Republican candidate Bill Johnson in the general election. She was the Democratic nominee for the United States Senate in 2014, unsuccessfully challenging Republican incumbent and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. She was re-elected for a second term as Secretary of State of Kentucky on November 3, 2015, defeating Republican Stephen Knipper. Term limited in 2019, she was succeeded by Republican Michael Adams.
The 2014 United States Senate election in Kentucky took place on November 4, 2014, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the Commonwealth of Kentucky, concurrently with elections to the United States Senate in other states and elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections.
Progress Kentucky is an independent expenditure political action committee (PAC) opposing the re-election of Mitch McConnell. The SuperPAC was formed in December 2012. Progress Kentucky's slogan is a play on Senator Mitch McConnell's 2010 statement setting the Republican Party's agenda for last two years of the first term of President Barack Obama:
'"The single most important thing we want to achieve: Electing a new US Senator to represent Kentucky."
Matthew Griswold Bevin is an American businessman and politician who served as the 62nd governor of Kentucky from 2015 to 2019 and was the third Republican elected to that office since World War II, after Ernie Fletcher (2003–2007) and Louie Nunn (1967–1971). He is currently the CEO of Neuronetrix Solutions, LLC.
Nathaniel Ryan Morris is an American businessman. He is the Chairman and CEO of Lexington, Kentucky-based company Morris Industries. He also founded the company Rubicon Technologies, where he formerly served as CEO.
The 2020 United States Senate election in Kentucky was held on November 3, 2020, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the Commonwealth of Kentucky, concurrently with the 2020 U.S. presidential election, as well as other elections to the United States Senate, elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. Incumbent Republican Senator Mitch McConnell, who had been Senate Majority Leader since 2015 and senator from Kentucky since 1985, won reelection to a seventh term in office. He faced off against former U.S. Marine fighter pilot Amy McGrath and Libertarian Brad Barron.
Amy Melinda McGrath is an American former Marine fighter pilot and former political candidate from Kentucky. McGrath was the first woman to fly a combat mission for the Marine Corps, as well as the first to pilot the F/A-18 on a combat mission. During her 20 years of service in the Marine Corps, McGrath flew 89 combat missions against al-Qaeda and the Taliban. Toward the end of her service, McGrath worked domestically as a political adviser, a liaison officer, and an instructor at the United States Naval Academy.
Matthew Harper Jones is an American attorney, businessman, radio host, author, and investor in Lexington, Kentucky.
Daniel Jay Cameron is an American attorney and politician who has served as the attorney general of Kentucky since 2019. A member of the Republican Party, Cameron was the first African American, and the first Republican since 1943, to be elected to the office. He was the Republican nominee in the 2023 Kentucky gubernatorial election, losing to incumbent Democrat Andy Beshear.
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