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Jim Gray Says He'll Work to Build Bridges in U.S. Senate, and Isn't Worried About Being an Underdog

J. Tyler Franklin

Lexington Mayor Jim Gray says many Kentuckians are just now starting to pay attention to the state’s U.S. Senate race.

Gray is the Democratic nominee who is trying to unseat incumbent Republican Rand Paul of Bowling Green.

The race isn’t receiving the same kind of national attentionas several other U.S. Senate campaigns across the country, including Indiana’s.

But Gray says he’s not worried about perceptions that Kentucky’s race is uncompetitive.

“I’m accustomed to being in an underdog position. Every time I’ve run, I’ve been behind when I started the race—and I won the race.”

Gray says Congress currently lacks the ability to solve the nation’s most pressing problems. The Lexington Mayor says he would work as a bridge-builder between Republican and Democratic Senators, in an effort to find compromise on issues like job creation, infrastructure, and national security.

Gray told WKU Public Radio that serving as mayor of Kentucky’s second-largest city has prepared him to take on important issues and find solutions.

“We had a budget deficit, we had to fix it. We had a pension system that was underfunded by $350 million, we had to fix it. We had a health care plan that was losing $20 million a year, we had to fix it. So we had to put a bear hug around problems and wrestle them to the ground.”

Gray says he would support federal efforts to shore up the pension system and health benefits of coal miners.

WKU Public Radio is also working to schedule an in-studio interview with Rand Paul.

You can hear our recent interview with Jim Gray by clicking on the Listen button above.

Kevin is the News Director at WKU Public Radio. He has been with the station since 1999, and was previously the Assistant News Director, and also served as local host of Morning Edition.
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