U.S. Senate candidate Amy McGrath makes campaign stops in Whitley and Laurel Counties

HAZARD, Ky. (WYMT) - As the November election nears and campaigns are in full swing Democrat candidate for U.S. Senate Amy McGrath, who will run against Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, stopped in the region on Monday.

McGrath making her first stop in downtown Williamsburg to talk to community members and local business owners in a round table type discussion.

“Today I’m just coming to visit to talk to people really about the coronavirus. What the needs of the community is and what people’s worries are,” said McGrath. “They are very worried about their business in the middle of coronavirus. How do we get back, how do we build our community and build better instead of going back to what it was? "

Stefanie Ebbenskingley, a community member, was at the discussion mentioning the importance of an open dialogue.

“These ladies have done a fantastic job speaking up for the issues of our community and what struggles we have here in Eastern Kentucky to build and grow businesses. "

McGrath says discussing a variety of topics including education, universal broadband, and healthcare in Eastern Kentucky.

“I mean you talk to folks who are farmers whose healthcare is unaffordable. They have to leave the farm in order to get another job so they can have healthcare. These are things that we can fix. We can fix them with a public option or an Uncle Sam plan,” said McGrath. “This region is so important. It has been left behind by Senator Mitch McConnell for far too long. I mean even before coronavirus think about the health care issues we have here the opioid crisis. "

Katharine Cooksey, Team Mitch Press Secretary responding, “In the past five years, Senator McConnell secured hundreds of millions of dollars to help Kentucky fight the opioid crisis, including funding for a new University of Kentucky program targeting aid to high-risk communities. Amy McGrath never fails to ignore the facts about Mitch McConnell’s indisputable record of delivering for Kentuckians in need.”

Community members telling their stories and experiences.

“It’s important to us to be able to tell her own story in our own words and I think it’s important that statewide candidates come out here see it with their own eyes and hear it with their own ears,” said Ebbenskingley.

After the discussion, McGrath made meet and greet stops in Whitley and Laurel counties.

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