Tagged: State Sen. Morgan McGarvey

Freshman State Sen. Morgan McGarvey is built like his predecessor, Tim Shaughnessy.

He's slight, lean, with a legislator's firm handshake and a clean-shaven face. His frame is a little more wiry, though. The more noticeable difference is when he stands to speak on the Senate floor.

For 24 years, Shaughnessy, a Louisville Democrat, took command of his desk in such a way that made it seem to disappear to on-lookers, his voice was a familiar rallying beacon for other Democrats in the chamber.

Newly elected state Senator Morgan McGarvey, D-Louisville, lashes out a Senate Republican Mitch McConnell in a Courier-Journal editorial, saying the GOP leader is only interested in attaining more power.

McGarvey was defending Democratic Congressman John Yarmuth from McConnell biographer John David Dyche, who penned a stinging article comparing to a "yapping toy poodle" among other things. The Dyche article was in response to Yarmuth's cheerleading for a challenge to McConnell in 2014.

What's interesting about McGarvey's piece is that it acknowledges the origins of the Yarmuth-McConnell divide. Both men were once moderate Republican staffers who worked for former U.S. Senator Marlow Cook at the same time.

McGarvey says since then Yarmuth has become more liberal but taken principled stands while McConnell is only interested in accumulating more power.

From The C-J:

Unlike Yarmuth, and their former boss, McConnell’s career has not been forged in ideological fidelity, civil discourse or bipartisan cooperation.