Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes said Monday that she will run for re-election as secretary of state this year, rather than seek a higher office.
At an afternoon rally in Lexington, Kentucky, Grimes said she is excited and energized and will be going to the state capital to file her candidacy papers later in the day.
"I’m more resolute today than I was yesterday to continue to champion the values that we hold dear," she said.
Grimes lost a high-profile challenge to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R) by more than 15 percentage points in November's midterm elections. After that, she remained tight-lipped as to whether she would seek re-election or run for governor, lieutenant governor or attorney general, saying only that she would run for a statewide office this year.
On Monday, she said she is "stronger" after having weathered the attacks during her 2014 Senate campaign.
By running for re-election, Grimes avoids creating primary challenges for fellow Democrats, such as Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway, who is running for governor, and attorney Andy Beshear, who is running for attorney general.
As the Bluegrass State's chief elections official, Grimes has recently said that she's "not going to be bullied" by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who is considering simultaneously seeking the Republican presidential nomination and re-election to the Senate next year. Grimes suggested that she would take Paul to court if he attempted such a move.
She cited the restoration of voting rights for non-violent felons and an expansion of electronic voter registration as two of her priorities over the course of the next year.
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