A former CIA officer from Kentucky had his security clearance revoked by the Trump administration earlier this year. Now, he’s a Democratic candidate for the state’s open U.S. Senate seat.
Joel Willett, who is also a veteran and former CEO, launched his campaign Wednesday. Last month, he was one of 37 current and former intelligence officials who had their security clearances revoked by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.
Gabbard said on X that the officials had used intelligence for political or personal gain. However, Willett later said in an NPR interview that he had no official correspondence about the matter and the action against him came shortly after a report said he was a possible candidate for U.S. Senate. The GOP attention is a key focus of his launch video released Wednesday morning.
“As soon as you have a normal person stand up and try to run for office, look what they do,” Willett told the Lantern in a phone interview. “They weaponize the entire U.S. government against that person to try to shut them up. And I think that’s, unfortunately, the system we live in now. And so I think they thought maybe that would shut me up or deter me. It did the opposite.”
Willett also worked in the White House Situation Room. He and other staffers in that role were nonpartisan and would have served any president, regardless of party, and the country, he said. While “I’ve never been a political animal,” that experience has shaped his views on America’s global position.
“I believe that the world is a better place with a strong united America in a position of global leadership. I am increasingly concerned that we have abdicated that position of global leadership,” Willett said. “And I think if we can’t get our s- – – together as a country, the rest of the world is going to move on from the time of America occupying that driver’s seat. And so I think that’s another danger of this administration.”
Willett, 41, grew up in Valley Station in southwestern Jefferson County. He said his experience growing up in a family that faced class and union struggles drew him to the Democratic Party.
He joined the Army National Guard at the age of 17, shortly after the 9/11 attacks. Willett said his parents worked hard to provide for him and his sister, but “both of them struggled with addiction.” He said his father died of a fentanyl overdose in 2019.
“This state, good public education, the support of my grandparents, the support of my church family, public service, service in the military — all those things made my American dream possible,” Willett said. “But I think for too many people in the state today that dream is dead or dying, and it’s because they’re getting steamrolled by a political system that they’re invisible to and, when it does bother to take notice, treats families like the one that I grew up in as acceptable losses.”
Like many other Democratic candidates heading into midterm elections, Willett was critical of the GOP-backed One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which included spending cuts for services like Medicaid and food assistance programs. As for other policy areas he is interested in, Willett said he wanted to work on expanding health care, economic and educational opportunities for Americans and prevent artificial intelligence from replacing jobs in the workforce.
Willett joins a Democratic primary field that includes former U.S. Secret Service agent and attorney Logan Forsythe, who announced his campaign Tuesday, and Kentucky House Minority Floor Leader Rep. Pamela Stevenson, of Louisville, who has been in the race for months.
The seat is currently held by longtime Republican U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, who earlier this year announced he is not seeking reelection.
The Republican primary has been fiery as top candidates U.S. Rep. Andy Barr, former state Attorney General Daniel Cameron and businessman Nate Morris have campaigned for GOP votes throughout the summer.