Former military fighter pilot Amy McGrath has won the Democratic nomination in Kentucky's 6th Congressional District, setting up a tough fall campaign against a Republican incumbent.
McGrath, a political newcomer, defeated Lexington Mayor Jim Gray to win the crowded Democratic primary Tuesday. She'll face Republican U.S. Rep. Andy Barr in the fall in the district stretching from the bluegrass to the Appalachian foothills.
McGrath played up her military career, which ended in 2017 when she retired from the Marine Corps as a lieutenant colonel who had flown 89 combat missions.
She portrayed Gray as the "establishment candidate." She overcame a late attack ad in which Gray pointed out that McGrath was a newcomer to the district despite her Kentucky roots.
McGrath, who moved to the district last year after her military career, called the ad an attack against any military veteran who goes home to serve in another way.
