Kentucky Sen. Adrienne Southworth faces Ed Gallrein and Aaron Reed in the GOP primary
SHELBYVILLE — Among the farms and rolling hills east of Louisville, the idyllic countryside is the site of a three-way battle between two retired Navy SEALS and an incumbent for the district’s state Senate seat.
Navy SEALS Ed Gallrein and Aaron Reed are challenging Sen. Adrienne Southworth, R-Lawrenceburg, for a spot on the November ballot in the May 21 primary election.
Southworth was first elected in 2021 and is touting her experience in her reelection pitch. She told The Courier Journal she’s running her campaign on “experience matters,” which is the same tagline she used in the previous election.
Her two Republican challengers aren’t relying on political experience. Instead, they’re offering to bring a unique voice to the Senate — one that comes from a worldly perspective tied to travels around the globe and years of combat leadership experience.
While Gallrein and Reed are out to beat each other for the chance to represent Anderson, Henry, Shelby and part of Jefferson County, they’re also working in tandem to take down an incumbent who sometimes finds herself at odds within her own Republican Party.
The Navy SEAL experience
It isn’t easy to become a Navy SEAL.
The Navy SEALS, which stands for sea, air and land teams, were established by former President John F. Kennedy in 1962 and are responsible for providing military relief in crises. This may include carrying out missions against military targets, collecting information through special missions and capturing enemy personnel and terrorists, according to the Navy.
Only around 25% of candidates make it through “Hell Week,” which is among the toughest training in the U.S. military and tests characteristics like physical endurance to mental toughness.
Reed enlisted in 1999 after graduating from Morehead State University and served for 22 ½ years. He traveled the world through multiple combat deployments, including Afghanistan, and retired as a Special Operations Senior Chief after serving his last deployment in South Korea.
Known for his impressive shooting skills, Reed said his duty often included being the one in the helicopter or on a rooftop covering his team.
“My thing was long-range and pistol shooting,” Reed said. “That’s a gift God gave me, to be able to squeeze that trigger and have good front-sight focus and hit my target.”
Now, as a farmer and owner of two firearm-related businesses, Reed said he’s running for a Senate seat because he wants to defend the American values of freedom and liberty.
Meanwhile, Gallrein served on seven SEAL teams and two special mission units over 30 years. Gallrein said he was recruited at 26 years old when former President Ronald Reagan was rebuilding the service in the 1980s. After graduating from Murray State University, Gallrein left Kentucky and started training to become a Navy SEAL officer.
“As an officer in the SEALS, I had never had the luxury of just being one of the guys,” Gallrein said. “Everything around me I was responsible for and everything I should have known about around me, I was responsible for.”
He said he served as a leader on active duty for multiple combat deployments, and was a commanding officer in the Panama Canal zone.
He said he saw his time as a leader as “as a gift and opportunity. And you relish the opportunity to make those around you better.”
Gallrein said he decided to run in the race because he wants to serve his community by bringing his knowledge and skills to Kentucky’s Capitol.
More: Gearing up for the Kentucky primary election
Candidate similarities
Kentucky Senate primary candidate Aaron Reed explains priorities
Republican District 7 primary candidate Aaron Reed talks about being a Navy SEAL, school choice and religious freedoms.
When it comes to political views, Gallrein and Reed have similar stances on a few issues.
Both are supporters of gun rights and are anti-abortion advocates. For Reed,
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