A group that wants to topple Mitch McConnell joins efforts to recruit Amy McGrath

WASHINGTON _ An advocacy group devoted to toppling Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is joining Democrats' efforts to recruit Amy McGrath to run for his Kentucky Senate seat.

The left-leaning Ditch Fund said in a press release Tuesday that it had collected donations from 50 states and the District of Columbia in the 24 hours since the Louisville Courier-Journal first reported that the group had created a "Draft Amy" website to encourage McGrath to enter the race.

McGrath is a retired Marine fighter pilot who is seen as a rising star in the party in spite of her unsuccessful 2018 House bid against Rep. Andy Barr in the state's 6th District.

"There is incredible grassroots energy for Amy McGrath to run against Mitch McConnell," said Ryan Aquilina, Executive Director of the Ditch Fund. "We had one of our best days ever in terms of fundraising, and that proves in no uncertain terms just how much appetite there is for Amy to run and to defeat Mitch McConnell."

The national Democratic Party has been aggressively courting McGrath to run for the seat but her team has not said whether she has made a decision. A call to her campaign headquarters was not immediately returned Tuesday.

McGrath's House campaign attracted national attention with a viral web video introducing her candidacy. She won the Democratic primary by beating the early favorite, Lexington Mayor Jim Gray, whom national Democrats had recruited to run against her.

By the end of the general election campaign, she had raised about $8.6 million. She fell 3 points short of unseating GOP Rep. Andy Barr in a district that backed Trump by 15 points. Barr had won his 2016 race by 22 points.

The Ditch Fund was formed in October 2018 and had raised almost $130,000 by December, according to its most recent FEC filings. The group is dedicated to supporting McConnell's 2020 opponent through "grassroots fundraising," according to its website.

All the money the group raises for McGrath would be immediately transferred to her campaign as soon as she announces her candidacy, according to the press release.