Terrell talks to Kentucky Senate Candidate Charles Booker

Watch the video on The Root

Kentucky State Rep. Charles Booker (D-Louisville) told The Root that momentum is moving in his favor and he doesn’t have to change his tone or adjust how he articulates his progressive brand of politics for white folks, either.

Amy McGrath, the Democratic Party establishment’s favorite in the June 23 Kentucky primary, was supposed to cakewalk her way to the nomination for a November face-off against Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). But the national uprisings and Booker’s presence at local protests have elevated his profile to upset-candidate status.

During his hourlong interview on Instagram Live with The Root, Booker called for defunding the police and laid out a detailed definition of what that could look like from a policy standpoint, as well as sharing his belief that white Kentuckians support his outlook on policing because they are being abused and killed by cops, too.

He opened up the interview expressing how Louisville, Ky., resident Breonna Taylor’s killing by police impacted him personally and how it made him reflect on raising two daughters. We also spoke extensively about LGBTQ+ rights, Medicare for all, the Green New Deal and reining in America’s military spending.

Booker also told us he is not running for re-election for his state House seat because the seat “belongs to the people.”