ABOUT CHARLES

Hi, My name is Charles Booker, and I am running to represent Kentucky in the U.S. Senate.

 Let me tell you a little about myself. I come from right here in the Shawnee Neighborhood of Louisville. Living in Russell now with my wife Tanesha and the girls, I feel the urgency of what it really means to be living in the poorest zip code in the state. As a diabetic paying as much as $1,000 a month for insulin, I have seen how the healthcare system has let us down. After getting an education at the University of Louisville, I was faced with the stark reality of student debt — like so many other people in this country. But really, this isn’t about me. It isn’t even about Mitch McConnell. This is bigger than any one person. This is bigger than party or politics.

I believe that this should be a country where everybody, no matter where they’re from, has access to a free quality education. I believe that we can live in a society where everybody can have a little bit of money in their pocket, and nobody is working just to survive. I believe that unions should have the power to guarantee workers a fair share of the wealth they create. I know we need to make sure that seniors can retire and live in dignity and be rewarded for the sacrifices they’ve made. I want Kentucky to be a place where veterans can come home and know that they’ll have a good job waiting for them, and a good doctor too. It’s time to take back what’s ours and transform our system so it invests in all of us through public education, healthcare, and more. It’s time to believe again.

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Charles Booker is a lifelong Kentuckian who was born and raised in the west end of Louisville, in one of the poorest zip codes in the state.
 
Both of Charles’s parents had to drop out of high school to help take care of their brothers and sisters. Even with food stamps and free lunch, Charles still sometimes went hungry. After Charles found out he had diabetes, there were times when his family had to ration his insulin just to survive.
 
Now Charles and his wife Tanesha are raising two girls in Kentucky– but they worry every day about how they will pay for their daughters’ education while still paying off their own student loan debt.
 
For the last decade, Charles has been fighting for everyday Kentuckians, working at every level of government — local, state, and federal. In 2014, he was appointed as Director of Personnel and Administrative Services for the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife under then-Governor Steve Beshear.
 
In 2018, Charles was elected to the Kentucky State House of Representatives, becoming the youngest black state legislator in 90 years. During his time in office, he has championed gun reform, voting rights, labor laws, and criminal justice, and passed bipartisan legislation to help Kentuckians get insulin in emergency situations. Charles is a proud member of the Kentucky Black Legislative Caucus.