Elaine Lan Chao is an American businesswoman and former government official. A member of the Republican Party, she served as the 18th United States secretary of transportation in the Trump administration from 2017 to 2021, and as the 24th United States secretary of labor in the George W. Bush administration from 2001 to 2009. Chao was the first Asian American woman ever to serve in a presidential cabinet.
Addison Mitchell McConnell III is an American politician and retired attorney serving as Senate minority leader since 2021 and as the senior United States senator from Kentucky. Currently in his seventh term, McConnell has held the seat since 1985. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as Senate majority leader from 2015 to 2021, and as minority leader from 2007 to 2015.
Leonard A. Leo is an American lawyer and conservative legal activist. He was the longtime vice president of the Federalist Society and he currently serves, along with Steven G. Calabresi, as the co-chairman of the organization's board of directors.
Donald Leon Blankenship is an American business executive and political candidate. He was chairman and CEO of the Massey Energy Company—the sixth-largest coal company in the United States—from 2000 until an explosion at one of his coal mines in 2010, costing him his position.
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 presidential election which occurred simultaneously, 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.
Jeri Kehn Thompson is an American radio talk show host, columnist for The American Spectator, political commentator, and former political consultant for the Washington, D.C. law firm of Verner Liipfert. She has also worked for the Senate Republican Conference and the Republican National Committee. She was also employed with the public relations and lobbying firm Burson-Marsteller.
The 1996 United States Senate election in Kentucky was held on November 5, 1996. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell won re-election to a third term with a 12.6% margin of victory. McConnell's substantial victory occurred at the same time President Bill Clinton was re-elected to a second term, winning by an 8.5% margin nationwide, but carrying Kentucky by a 0.9% margin.
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.
The Faith and Freedom Coalition is a conservative political advocacy 501(c)(4) non-profit organization in the United States.
Jesse Reeves Benton is an American conservative political operative, writer, entrepreneur, and convicted felon. Benton is closely associated with the Paul family. He served as a campaign manager for both Ron Paul and Rand Paul. He is married to Valori Pyeatt, Ron Paul's granddaughter.
Double Down: Game Change 2012 is a book written by political journalists John Heilemann and Mark Halperin about the 2012 United States presidential election, in which Barack Obama was re-elected as President of the United States, defeating Mitt Romney. The book, published by Penguin Press, is a behind-the-scenes narrative of the Obama and Romney campaigns. It is the sequel to Game Change, which explored the 2008 United States presidential election. Double Down was released on November 5, 2013.
Peter Hamby is an American political journalist. He is the host of Good Luck America at Snapchat and a contributing writer for Puck News and Vanity Fair. He began his journalism career at CNN. Hamby has been described as an early adopter among political journalists of social media. Hamby won an Emmy Award in 2012 for his role in CNN's Election Coverage and an Edward R. Murrow Award in 2017 for his political coverage on Snapchat.
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, professional nose whistler, author, professional wrestling investor, leader of the Williamsport Four, and the owner and founder of Kentucky Sports Radio in Lexington, Kentucky.
Charles Booker is an American politician from the commonwealth of Kentucky. He served in the Kentucky House of Representatives, representing the 43rd district from 2019 to 2021. During his term, he was Kentucky's youngest Black state lawmaker.
The political positions of Mitch McConnell are reflected by his United States Senate voting record, public speeches, and interviews, as well as his actions as Senate majority and minority leader. McConnell was known as a pragmatist and a moderate Republican early in his political career, but shifted to the right over time. He led opposition to stricter campaign finance laws, culminating in the Supreme Court ruling that partially overturned the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (McCain-Feingold) in 2010.
America's Great Divide: From Obama to Trump is a 2020 two-part television documentary film about the political divide between the United States Democratic and Republican Party in the early 21st century. Produced by the investigative journalism program Frontline on PBS, it charts how the two major political parties became increasingly adversarial to each other due to factors of race, media, and misinformation, from the 2008 presidential election to the presidency of Donald Trump. The film was directed by Michael Kirk and written by Kirk and Mike Wiser, and was first aired on PBS in two parts on January 13 and 14, 2020.
