Joel Willett, a military veteran and former CIA officer, has thrown his hat into the ring for the U.S. Senate from Kentucky, launching his Democratic campaign on Wednesday, September 17, 2025. Willett’s decision comes on the heels of a turbulent episode: the revocation of his security clearance by the Trump administration, an event he says only strengthened his resolve to seek public office.
“I’ve seen firsthand how the Trump administration and their far-right allies are trying to weaponize the government against anyone who disagrees with them,” Willett declared in a campaign news release, as reported by the Associated Press. “That just made me more determined to run.”
Willett’s journey to this pivotal moment has been anything but ordinary. Raised in a Louisville suburb, he joined the Kentucky Army National Guard at just 17, in the months following the September 11, 2001 attacks. He later served in the Army’s Military Police Corps, a formative experience that would lay the groundwork for a career spanning national security and business. According to his campaign biography, his path led him to the CIA, where he eventually spent time in the White House situation room under then-President Barack Obama.
But it was his more recent experience—being among 37 current and former national security officials to have their security clearances rescinded by the Trump administration—that propelled him into the political spotlight. According to the Associated Press, some of those officials, including Willett, had signed a 2019 letter critical of Trump, a move that gained renewed attention after being highlighted online by Trump ally Laura Loomer.
A memo issued by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard accused those whose clearances were revoked of “politicization or weaponization of intelligence” to advance personal or partisan goals, as well as failing to safeguard classified information and not adhering to “professional analytic tradecraft standards.” However, the memo offered no evidence to support these allegations.
Willett said his clearance was revoked two weeks after his name appeared in an article speculating about possible Senate candidates in Kentucky. The timing, he argues, was no coincidence. “Right now, we live in a country where a president and his director of national intelligence think they can use all their power and all their trolls online to shut people up who disagree with them,” Willett said in a video released alongside his campaign announcement. “Well, I didn’t shut up.”
The fallout was swift and severe: after the revocation, Willett became the target of online attacks, including death threats. Yet, instead of retreating, he says the experience galvanized his commitment to public service. “I’ve dedicated most of my life to protecting the country — and the democracy — I love, and I’m not stopping now,” he stated in his campaign release.
Willett’s campaign strikes a populist tone in a state that has trended Republican for decades. He has been outspoken in his criticism of tax cuts for the wealthy and proposed Medicaid reductions, which he argues would strip millions of Americans of health insurance. “Costs go up and never come down. Tax cuts go to the ultrawealthy ... while millions are kicked off Medicaid,” he said in his campaign video, painting a stark contrast with the policies he attributes to Republican leadership.
His career outside government service is also notable. After leaving the CIA, Willett became a business executive, serving as president of a consumer electronics manufacturing business and later as CEO of an engineering services firm that helped the Navy build destroyers. This blend of military, intelligence, and business experience is something Willett hopes will resonate with Kentucky voters, especially as he positions himself as a champion for those who feel left behind by the political and economic system.
The race Willett has entered is shaping up to be one of Kentucky’s most closely watched in years. He joins a growing field of Democratic candidates vying for the seat held by longtime Republican powerbroker Mitch McConnell, who is not seeking reelection in 2026. Among Willett’s Democratic rivals are State Rep. Pamela Stevenson and Logan Forsythe, an attorney and former U.S. Secret Service agent. Forsythe has echoed some of Willett’s criticisms of Republican policies, arguing that GOP cuts to Medicaid and food assistance are “creating a crisis for families,” and that Trump’s tariffs have hurt Kentucky’s bourbon industry and farmers.
On the Republican side, the field is equally crowded and competitive. U.S. Rep. Andy Barr, former state Attorney General Daniel Cameron, and businessman Nate Morris are all vying for the nomination. The Republican hopefuls, according to the Associated Press, are speaking glowingly of Trump, each hoping to secure his endorsement in a state he carried handily in the last three presidential elections.
The stakes are high for both parties. Kentucky hasn’t elected a Democrat to the Senate since Wendell Ford in 1992—a more than 30-year drought that underscores the uphill battle facing Willett and his fellow Democrats. Meanwhile, the Republican primary is already seeing an escalation in spending on TV ad purchases, both by candidates and outside groups eager to influence the outcome. The contest is widely viewed as a bellwether for the state’s political future, especially with term-limited Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear rumored to be eyeing a presidential run in 2028.
Willett’s campaign is not just about policy, but about the broader tone of American politics. He has decried what he calls the “ugly and violent” climate that has taken hold, arguing that it “goes against everything America stands for.” In his words: “I’ve lived the American dream, but for many Kentuckians that dream is dead. Because they get steamrolled by a political and economic system that thinks they don’t matter.”
As the 2026 Senate race heats up, Willett’s candidacy offers a test of whether a message rooted in national security experience, personal resilience, and economic populism can break through in a state that has long been a Republican stronghold. With new faces on both sides of the aisle and the shadow of Trump looming large, Kentucky’s political landscape is poised for a dramatic showdown.
For now, Willett is betting that his story—of service, adversity, and defiance—will strike a chord with voters looking for change in turbulent times.
