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Former Kentucky State Rep. Charles Booker 'strongly considering' 2022 Senate run against Sen. Rand Paul

Booker previously ran in the 2020 Kentucky Democratic Primary ultimately losing to Amy McGrath. He represented the 43rd District in the Kentucky House from 2019-21.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — In an interview with KET's Renee Shaw, former Kentucky State Representative Charles Booker (D) said he is "strongly considering" making a run for the United States Senate. 

Kentucky Junior Senator Rand Paul (R) is up for reelection in 2022. Booker previously ran for Democratic nomination in the Kentucky Primary in 2020, ultimately losing to Mitch McConnell (R) challenger, Amy McGrath. 

"The reason why I feel so serious about this work at the statewide level with my work with 'Hood to Holler,' and even evaluating the Senate run is the challenges we see in our community, the west end in Louisville, as a whole," Booker said. "They speak to the structural challenges we face. I think that's one of the reasons my previous Senate run got so much attention even though folks were trying to silence us. I was speaking about structural challenges. I was speaking about poverty in a generational sense, racism at a deep rooted structural and institutional level and saying we need real change right now." 

Since the unsuccessful Senate bid in 2020, Booker launched a non-profit organization, 'Hood to the Holler,' which "focuses on leveraging momentum for positive change in Kentucky," according to the organization's website. 

Booker has yet to formally announce the run but did rule out that he would be interested in entering the Louisville Mayoral race in 2022. 

WHAS11 News reached out to Booker for comment but have not heard back at the time of this story's publishing. 

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