Can Mitch McConnell bring wins for Kentucky after November? Some think he still can

When Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell entered office in 1984, he had the worst seat in the chamber.

During his 40-year career, the senior senator earned the best seat when elected as Republican Party leader in 2006 and has had a seat at the table "in the room where it happens" ever since.

"At the end of the negotiations because we haven't passed all the appropriations bills, the final decision is made by four people, and I've been one of those for people for 18 years," McConnell told The Courier Journal on Tuesday. "So, it gives me the extra opportunity to help my state."

Kentucky likely loses that seat at the table in less than six months when McConnell steps down from his leadership post.

Although McConnell's approval ratings recently sank to the single digits, many Kentuckians and politicians praise him for keeping the state at the top of his priorities.

“His impact on Kentucky is enormous and is going to be felt by generations,” outgoing Kentucky State Senate Floor Leader Damon Thayer said. “Quite simply one of the most consequential Kentuckians in the history of the commonwealth.”

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McConnell finishes his term in 2026 and hasn't announced if he'll seek reelection. He recently turned 82 and is the second-ever Kentuckian to be a party leader in the Senate following Alben W. Barkley who led Democrats from 1937 until he became vice president in 1949.

But Kentucky won't lose all its clout once McConnell steps back because his success isn't only because of his leadership position.

It's his approach to politics. It's his longevity in the Senate. It's his relationships. It's his institutional knowledge.

Where does McConnell go next?

Some think McConnell's next move will be to chair the Senate Appropriations Committee, having the seniority to step into that position.

"If he becomes the chair of appropriations, he still would be in a great position to earmark things and make sure that our economic priorities are met over the next few years," former Kentucky GOP Secretary of State Trey Grayson said. “But it won't be the same because he won't be able to have impact all types of policies.”

Still, the amount of influence lost won't be drastic.

"I can tell you a senior senator from Kentucky with all his experience, I don't really see the fact that his impact is going to diminish one iota," University of Louisville President Kim Schatzel said. "He's deeply committed to his role as a senior senator and continued service to our nation."

Tres Watson, a longtime Kentucky political consultant and former GOP spokesman, said Kentucky will still have an outsized influence on the way policy is made — especially the budget — as others will still see him as a leader.

That's because while McConnell's serving as a leader allowed him to be a part of policy negotiations, his approach to politics gave Kentucky a strong voice in national conversations despite being considered a medium-sized state.

One part of McConnell’s persona is how he built his career, University of Kentucky political science professor Stephen Voss said.

“McConnell was not a showman (and ) was not a politician who worked hard to be in the center of the big controversies of the day,” Voss said. “McConnell built his career out of a reputation for helping the state and helping the folks back home."

The senior senator’s approach to politics is what separates him from Sen. Rand Paul, who Voss said is more likely to wade into hot-button controversies, including the anti-vaccination movement.

McConnell builds his reputation by bringing wins back to Kentucky, including playing a key role in the tobacco buyout, securing a federal transportation appropriation for the Parklands of Floyds Fork Project, and advocating for policy supporting Kentucky's agriculture industry.

Those wins are not forgotten.

Eddie Melton, Kentucky Farm Bureau, said McConnell's support for the tobacco buyout in 2004 is one of his greatest accomplishments and proved he is a forward-thinking senator.

"I think he saw that the industry was changing, and (tobacco) is an asset that farmers had," Melton said. "He actually helped work that through that asset before it went completely away, (and) people were compensated for it."

The Fair and Equitable Tobacco Reform Act, which passed in 2004, ended federal tobacco quotas and established the Tobacco Transition Payment Program that gave annual payments to eligible tobacco quota holders and producers. B. Todd Bright, director of the communications division for the Kentucky Farm Bureau, said Kentucky farmers received $2.5 billion from the buyout.

Dan Jones, founder and board chair of 21st Century Parks/The Parklands, was surprised when McConnell secured $38 million in 2005 for the Parklands of Floyds Fork project. At first, Jones thought the project, a 20-mile and 4,000-acre addition to the Louisville Park System, would only receive $5 million.

Jones said McConnell understands the significance of federal funding for local projects because of his background as a former county judge executive.

"To have somebody at his level of authority and power at the federal government, who once was at the totally opposite end of the scale running a small or midsize city government, has to be somewhat unique," Jones said. "That kind of grassroots ability has to make you a better politician, certainly when it comes to understanding trying to get federal grants and direct them to local and state level projects."

Longevity creates relationships and institutional knowledge

Has longevity helped McConnell bring wins for Kentucky? Being a senator is like any other job he said: the longer someone is in it and if they're good it, the better they get.

"It is an opportunity to do more when you learn more about the job, when you stay there longer, and when you become more consequential," McConnell said.

McConnell, first elected in 1984, is the longest-serving senator in Kentucky history. That longevity is what helped build relationships between the commonwealth and Washington D.C.

“He's pulled many chairs up to the table at the federal level to ensure that the voices of regular Kentuckians are heard and our stories are told,” said Eric King, University of Kentucky's assistant vice president for federal relations and former McConnell staffer. "He's connected our communities, our institutions, with decision makers at the federal level, driving that progress that we make as an institution and other institutions like ours, across Kentucky.”

At the University of Louisville, McConnell extends those relationships by bringing high-profile politicians to the McConnell Center, which works to recruit Kentucky's "next generation of great leaders" through scholarships and hosting the Distinguished Speaker Series.

"One of the things that (McConnell is) so proud of when we're talking about bipartisan, the individuals that come to campus are incredibly bipartisan," Schatzel said. "At the time when he was vice president, Joe Biden came, President Bush came, Ted Kennedy came, (and) Secretary of State Hillary Clinton."

How McConnell views the political game also matters to his success.

"He has an ability to persuade his colleagues to see things his way, and plays the long game," Thayer said. "He doesn't play the short term...other people are playing checkers while he is playing chess."

Moving forward, McConnell said he will focus on pushing back against isolationism, but that doesn't mean he will have any less interest in Kentucky.

"I think I'm in a position from a seniority point of view and from the fact I was formally leader to continue to have a big impact on Kentucky," McConnell said.

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This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: 'Not a showman': Why McConnell brings home wins for Kentucky