Kentucky Sports Radio host Matt Jones is still weighing whether or not to get into the 2020 U.S. Senate race in an attempt to unseat Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. But in the meantime, Jones believes Democratic senate candidate Amy McGrath, currently the only challenger to McConnell, is making similar mistakes of past Democrats.
“No Democrat in Kentucky has really tried to run being true to themselves and being like ‘this is what I believe — take it or leave it,’” Jones said. “And I actually think Kentuckians would respect that.”
Jones made his comments after he hosted a live version of his sports radio show Friday morning in Murray. Jones on Thursday at the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce business summit criticized McGrath for not being authentic, after she quickly reversed her position on whether she would have voted to confirm Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
“She’s trying to say what she thinks people want to hear, and you’re just going to lose that way. When Alison Grimes wouldn’t say who she voted for President, she lost. It was over,” Jones said.
Jones is referring to past controversy Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes faced when she refused to say whether she voted for Barack Obama in the 2012 presidential election. Jones said there’s still time for McGrath’s campaign to recover from what he sees as a gaffe.
Jones also said it would be difficult for any Democratic candidate — whether that will Amy McGrath, himself or someone else — to beat McConnell in 2020 because of the down-ballot support Republican candidates will receive from President Trump’s reelection bid that year.
During the live broadcast of his show, Jones said he was “surprised” when he saw headlines detailing his comments at the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce business summit from Thursday.
“It’s tough because I’m trying to talk about this election as an analyst while also considering whether to run. And that’s a weird position to be in,” Jones said. “I’m used to seeing my comments in things about sports. But it’s weird to open the front page of a newspaper and see your comments about politics on the front page.”
Jones said he’s still seriously considering a run for U.S. Senate, and that he plans to make a decision on whether to run “fairly soon.”
Liam Niemeyer is a reporter for the Ohio Valley Resource covering agriculture and infrastructure in Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia and also serves Assistant News Director at WKMS. He has reported for public radio stations across the country from Appalachia to Alaska, most recently as a reporter for WOUB Public Media in Athens, Ohio. He is a recent alumnus of Ohio University and enjoys playing tenor saxophone in various jazz groups.
