Family history leads Kentucky candidates to different places

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Republican and Democratic candidates in Kentucky’s competitive 6th Congressional district race say their families’ medical histories have profoundly affected their health care policy positions.

But their families’ struggles have led them to difference places. Republican U.S. Rep. Andy Barr says he wants to repeal former President Barack Obama’s health care law and replace it. Democrat Amy McGrath, a retired Marine fighter pilot, says she wants to keep the law but with some changes.

Barr’s older sister was diagnosed with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis and spent her childhood in and out of hospitals. McGrath’s parents both battled cancer and her mother survived a polio diagnosis as a child.

Whoever wins the election could help determine which political party controls Congress for the final two years of President Donald Trump’s term.