FRANKFORT, Ky. — Calling her party's victory in the Kentucky governor's race a jolt of momentum for her own bid to unseat a Republican incumbent, Democrat Amy McGrath on Friday officially filed to challenge Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in what looms as a bruising, big-spending campaign next year.

McGrath, a retired Marine combat pilot, touted many of the same issues — health care and good-paying jobs — that Andy Beshear highlighted in ousting Republican incumbent Matt Bevin in last month's election for governor. Beshear ran a “great campaign" that focused on issues that hit home for Kentuckians, McGrath said in a phone interview with The Associated Press.

“It absolutely gives us momentum because it shows that against an unpopular Republican incumbent, a Democrat can win," McGrath said. “And we win by talking about those bread-and-butter issues that Kentuckians really care about.