Democrat Alison Lundergan Grimes brought her campaign for the US Senate back to Covington on Sunday where she visited with supporters, campaign volunteers, and toured the Pawrade in Mainstrasse Village.
The Secretary of State is in a tight race with US Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, the Republican who has held the seat since first being elected in 1984.
Grimes has made several visits to Northern Kentucky recently, focusing heavily on Covington and issues of importance to the region such as the estimated $2.6 billion Brent Spence Bridge project and the widespread heroin problem.
The Democrat expects to perform strongly in Northern Kentucky, against the region’s Republican trend. “I think we’re gonna surprise a lot of people,” Grimes told reporters in Mainstrasse. “This is where my family is from. … Folks here in Northern Kentucky, I think they are ready to make history. I think we’re gonna surprise a lot of people with the excitement and the energy that is up here as you see here today.”
Outside of the prediction of the surprise on Election Day, Grimes’s message was familiar: McConnell wants to go back to DC just to have a bigger office while she wants to work to give Kentuckians a bigger paycheck. She also said she would work to combat the heroin problem.
Meanwhile, at a recent visit to the region, McConnell highlighted the tough road Democrats have in Northern Kentucky.Â
“The transformation here over the course of my career has been truly amazing,” McConnell told the a crowd of supporters and local elected officials during a stop in Ft. Mitchell earlier this month. “You’ve almost wiped the other side out completely. Now you can’t find a Democrat up here with a searchlight.”
The latest polls in the race show a dead heat with just over a week to go before Election Day.
Story & photos by Michael Monks, editor & publisher of The River City News