Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., formally announced his bid for 2020 re-election in Kentucky this weekend.
“I have some news to make this morning. I’m going to be running for re-election in 2020,” McConnell said Saturday before the start of the Fancy Farm picnic, which marks the start of the fall campaign season. “I don’t like starting late.”
[More: Mitch McConnell names 2020 campaign chairman]
The 76-year-old senator made his official announcement ahead of the 2018 midterm elections. McConnell also announced that the chairman of his campaign would be 30-year-old Jonathan Shell, who is the majority leader of the Kentucky House of Representatives. Shell was upset in May’s GOP primary contest by R. Travis Brenda, a math teacher.
According to a local NBC affiliate that reported McConnell’s announcement, the majority of McConnell’s speech at Fancy Farm focused on his Supreme Court strategy — denying former President Barack Obama a Supreme Court nomination, leading to President Trump having an opening to nominate Neil Gorsuch — which the outlet notes will be touted in his re-election pitch.
Republicans hold 51 of the 100 Senate seats, a narrow margin that has Democrats eager to flip the balance of power in their favor in November.
[Also read: Trump: ‘Better numbers than Obama at this point’ means no ‘Blue Wave’ in 2018]
