Mitch McConnell

**Addison Mitchell** "**Mitch**" **McConnell, Jr.** (born February 20, 1942) is the senior United States Senator from Kentucky. He is a member of the Republican Party. He was the Minority Leader of the Senate. He is the longest-serving U.S. Senator in Kentucky history. McConnell holds conservative positions, despite regarding as a moderate Republican early in his career.

## Early life

Mitch McConnell was born to Julia (née Shockley) and Addison Mitchell McConnell at Helen Keller Memorial Hospital in Sheffield, Alabama on February 20, 1942. He grew up in segregated Athens, Alabama. They moved to southern Louisville, Kentucky and McConnell attended the duPont Manual High School. In 1964, he graduated with honors from the University of Louisville with a B.A. in political science. He graduated in 1967 from the University of Kentucky College of Law.

## Career

In 1984, McConnell ran for the United States Senate against two-term Democratic incumbent Walter "Dee" Huddleston. The election race wasn't decided until the last polls returned came in, and McConnell won by a thin margin—only 5,200 votes out of more than 1.8 million votes cast, just over 0.4%.

McConnell was the only Republican Senate challenger to win that year, despite Ronald Reagan's landslide victory in the presidential election. Part of McConnell's success came from a series of television campaign spots called "Where's Dee", which featured a group of bloodhounds trying to find Huddleston, implying that Huddleston's attendance record in the Senate was less than stellar. It is likely that he was helped by Ronald Reagan's 21-point win in Kentucky that year. His campaign bumper stickers and television ads asked voters to "Switch to Mitch".

McConnell has repeatedly been found to have the lowest home state approval rating of any sitting senator.

In February 2025, McConnell announced that he would not run for re-election in 2026.

## Personal life

McConnell is a member of the Baptist Church. His first wife was Sherrill Redmon, from whom he was later divorced; they have three daughters.  His second wife, whom he married in 1993, is Elaine Chao, the Secretary of Transportation under Donald Trump and the former Secretary of Labor under George W. Bush (the first Asian American woman to serve in the Cabinet).

Senator McConnell's personal fortune was between $9,839,049 to $44,587,000 in 2010 and he was ranked as the 10th wealthiest member of the U.S. Senate.

In October 2024, the first autobiographical book, "The Price of Power: How Mitch McConnell Mastered the Senate, Changed America, and Lost His Party", about Mitch McConnell, will be released in the United States.

## Other websites

- Senator Mitch McConnell _official U.S. Senate site_
- Mitch McConnell For U.S. Senate _official campaign site_

## Infobox (officeholder)

- **name**: Mitch McConnell
- **image**: Mitch McConnell 2016 official photo (1).jpg
- **office**: Chair of the Senate Rules Committee
- **term start**: January 3, 2025
- **predecessor**: Amy Klobuchar
- **term start1**: January 20, 2001
- **term end1**: June 6, 2001
- **predecessor1**: Chris Dodd
- **successor1**: Chris Dodd
- **term start2**: January 3, 1999
- **term end2**: January 3, 2001
- **predecessor2**: John Warner
- **successor2**: Chris Dodd
- **office3**: Senate Minority Leader
- **2blankname3**: Whip
- **2namedata3**: John Thune
- **term start3**: January 20, 2021
- **term end3**: January 3, 2025
- **predecessor3**: Chuck Schumer
- **successor3**: Chuck Schumer
- **1blankname4**: Whip
- **term start4**: January 3, 2007
- **term end4**: January 3, 2015
- **predecessor4**: Harry Reid
- **successor4**: Harry Reid
- **office5**: Senate Majority Leader
- **1blankname5**: Whip
- **term start5**: January 3, 2015
- **term end5**: January 20, 2021
- **predecessor5**: Harry Reid
- **successor5**: Chuck Schumer
- **office6**: Leader of the Senate Republican Conference
- **term start6**: January 3, 2007
- **term end6**: January 3, 2025
- **predecessor6**: Bill Frist
- **successor6**: John Thune
- **office7**: Senate Majority Whip
- **leader7**: Bill Frist
- **term start7**: January 3, 2003
- **term end7**: January 3, 2007
- **predecessor7**: Harry Reid
- **successor7**: Dick Durbin
- **jr/sr8**: United States Senator
- **state8**: Kentucky
- **alongside8**: Rand Paul
- **term start8**: January 3, 1985
- **predecessor8**: Walter Dee Huddleston
- **office9**: Jefferson County Judge/Executive, Judge-Executive of Jefferson County
- **term start9**: December 1, 1977
- **term end9**: December 21, 1984
- **predecessor9**: Todd Hollenbach III
- **successor9**: Bremer Ehrler
- **office10**: United States Assistant Attorney General for the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Legislative Affairs, Office of Legislative Affairs
- **status10**: Acting
- **president9**: Gerald Ford
- **term start10**: February 1, 1975
- **term end10**: June 27, 1975
- **predecessor10**: Vincent Rakestraw
- **successor10**: Michael Uhlmann
- **birth name**: Addison Mitchell McConnell III
- **birth place**: Sheffield, Alabama, U.S.
- **residence**: Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.
- **party**: Republican Party (United States), Republican
- **children**: 3
- **signature**: Mitch McConnell Signature.svg
- **branch**: *United States Army
**United States Army Reserve, Army Reserve
- **serviceyears**: July 9, 1967 – August 15, 1967 (medical separation)