Former Democratic state Rep. Charles Booker has scheduled an announcement this week, fueling speculation that he’s preparing to officially enter the 2022 Kentucky U.S. Senate race.
Booker launched an exploratory committee back in April, setting his sights on a contest with a high-profile Republican.
"We will transform Kentucky, and Rand Paul, you know it too," the former lawmaker ended his video release.
Now the avowed progressive is slated to give a "special announcement" at the Kentucky Center for African American Heritage on Thursday, with supporters anticipating the Democrat will kick off the Senate run in earnest.
Booker gained greater name recognition in 2020 in a Democratic Senate primary race against Amy McGrath, which took place against the backdrop of surging racial justice protests and a health crisis with the potential to upend electoral expectations. In the end McGrath came out on top, but Booker has stuck to his goal of cultivating a following from "the hood to the holler."
His potential rival, Sen. Rand Paul, has said he thinks the Democratic rising star’s politics swing too far left for Kentucky voters. Speaking with WDRB-TV, the Republican predicted "it will be difficult to run on a platform of defunding the police" in the commonwealth.
But Booker says his early fundraising totals since announcing the exploratory committee show he would have the resources necessary to compete.
