Closer Than Most

Amy McGrath’s 2.8-point victory over Charles Booker in Kentucky’s Democratic U.S. Senate primary goes down in the books as one of the most narrowly decided for the office in state history. Of the 85 U.S. Senate primaries across all parties since 1914, only three were more competitive (all Democratic): Lois Combs Weinberg’s 0.2-point win against Thomas Barlow in 2002, Marvel Logan’s 0.5-point victory over John Beckham in 1936, and Jack Conway’s 0.8-point win over Daniel Mongiardo in 2010. Just eight of these 85 U.S. Senate primaries were decided by single digits – seven Democratic and one Republican (Ben Bruner’s 8.2-point victory over B.J. Bethurum in 1918).