Charles Booker

Charles Booker (born October 20, 1984) is an American politician from the Commonwealth of Kentucky. From 2019 to 2021 he represented Kentucky's 43rd House district, making him the state's youngest Black lawmaker. He is the Democratic nominee for the 2026 U.S. Senate election in Kentucky.

Booker ran for the Democratic nomination in the 2020 U.S. Senate race in Kentucky, drawing national attention before ultimately losing a close race to former Marine fighter pilot Amy McGrath. In April 2021, Booker formed an exploratory committee for the 2022 U.S. Senate race in Kentucky and formally announced that he was running on July 1, 2021. He won the primary on May 17 but lost to Republican incumbent Rand Paul in the general election. Booker is the first African American to be a major party nominee for U.S. Senate in Kentucky. Following his defeat, Booker was appointed by Kentucky governor Andy Beshear to lead the Governor's Office of Faith-Based Initiatives and Community Involvement.

After the May 19 primary, Booker became the Democratic nominee for the 2026 U.S. Senate election in Kentucky. He will face Republican nominee Andy Barr in the November general election to succeed retiring incumbent Mitch McConnell.

Early life and education Booker was born in Louisville, Kentucky, on October 20, 1984, to parents who both dropped out of high school to tend to siblings. Booker graduated from Louisville Male High School. He earned a Bachelor of Science in political science and Juris Doctor from the University of Louisville.

Career Booker worked for the Legislative Research Commission until 2014, when he was fired for violating a staff policy against partisan political activity after appearing in a campaign video of Alison Lundergan Grimes, a candidate in the 2014 United States Senate election in Kentucky. He then worked for the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources and West Louisville FoodPort. In 2016, he ran against Gerald Neal in the Democratic Party primary election for Kentucky's 33rd Senate district. Booker finished in third place with 20 percent of the vote, behind Neal, who received 48 percent, and Joan Stringer, who received 32 percent.

Following Darryl Owens' retirement from representing Kentucky's 43rd House district in 2018, Booker ran to succeed him. In a field of seven candidates, Booker won the Democratic nomination with 29.5 percent of the vote, and defeated Republican Everett Corley in the general election by 56 percent.

As part of the Kentucky House of Representatives, Booker served on the economic development and workforce, judiciary, and natural resources and energy committees.

U.S. Senate campaigns 2020

On January 5, 2020, Booker formally entered the 2020 U.S. Senate race in Kentucky. Booker's platform included universal health care, a Green New Deal to tackle climate change, systemic criminal justice reform and universal basic income. During an interview with CNN on June 6, 2020, Booker stated, "we're building a grassroots campaign that has folks working from every part of a commonwealth," and "we've raised over a million dollars from regular folks because they know how important this moment is." As a progressive Democrat, Booker supported the Bernie Sanders 2020 presidential campaign.

Booker received endorsements from nearly half of the Democrats in the Kentucky House of Representatives, celebrities, unions and organizations. The editorial boards of the Lexington Herald-Leader and The Courier Journal, Kentucky's two largest newspapers, also endorsed Booker.

The campaign drew national attention in its closing weeks, as Booker swiftly closed a polling gap with McGrath, and because the winner would challenge the Republican leader in the Senate, Mitch McConnell. His surge came after his participation in protests over the death of Breonna Taylor. However, Booker ultimately lost to Amy McGrath, receiving 42.7% of the vote compared to McGrath's 45.4%. Upon conceding, Booker released a statement, reading in part:

2022

In April 2021, Booker formed an exploratory committee to consider running for Kentucky's other Senate seat. On July 1, 2021, Booker announced he would run in the Democratic primary. In his first fundraising quarter (Q3 2021), he raised $1.7 million from 55,000 individual donations. He stated that "98% of our dollars are from grassroots small donors," and asserted his campaign is therefore funded by everyday people.

On May 17, Booker won the Democratic primary. He became the first African American to be a major party nominee for US Senate in Kentucky. Booker lost to incumbent Republican senator Rand Paul in the general election.

After the election, Governor Andy Beshear appointed Booker on January 13, 2023, to lead the Governor's Office of Faith-Based Initiatives and Community Involvement. He held this office until his resignation on September 24, 2025.

2026

On December 3, 2025, Booker announced that he would run for the open U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Mitch McConnell. On May 19, 2026, Booker won the Democratic primary in a rematch of the 2020 primary, defeating Amy McGrath. He will face Republican nominee Andy Barr in the general election.

Money in politics Booker supports removing money from politics. He said the Citizens United v. FEC court decision should be overturned. Booker supports banning members of Congress from trading individual stocks.

Foreign affairs

Iran war Booker criticized the 2026 Iran war. In February 2026, he said, "The American people do not want war with Iran. Congress did not authorize war with Iran." He criticized Donald Trump's April 2026 post that said a "whole civilization" in Iran would be destroyed.

Israel-Palestine Booker said Israeli actions during the Gaza War constitute genocide.

Climate and energy Booker supports a Green New Deal.

Healthcare Booker supports single-payer healthcare in the form of Medicare for All. He supported writing abortion rights into law, but said he understood differing personal beliefs.

Crime In Booker's 2021 run for Senate, he faced criticism for his alleged support of de-funding the police. Instead, Booker rarely talked about de-funding the police, and instead criticized increasing police budgets, vying to instead spend that money on things like mental health services.

Immigration Booker has called for ICE to be abolished.

Income Booker has repeatably supported an universal basic income, and has linked the idea to continuing the fight of Martin Luther King Jr.. In 2026, Booker proposed a "40 for 40 for 45" plan. The plan argues that if someone works 40 hours a week they should be entitled to a minimum of 40 hours of paid sick leave and a minimum income of $45,000. Booker is a member of Kappa Alpha Psi, a historically black college fraternity.

Electoral history