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Who is Amy McGrath, when did the Democrat become a marines pilot and did she win for Kentucky in the midterm elections?

FORMER marine pilot Amy McGrath had hoped for a US midterm upset in Kentucky.

The Democrat insurgent had hoped to topple Republican Andy Barr in Tuesday night's crunch election.

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Amy McGrath used to serve in the marines and hoped to win for Kentucky in the midtermsCredit: Reuters

Who was Amy McGrath and what is she known for?

Amy McGrath was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1975 and is the youngest of three children.

Her mother is a retired English high school teacher and her mother is a psychiatrist.

A keen sports competitor at school, she later attended the United States Naval Academy in the year Congress lifted a ban on women becoming fighter pilots.

McGrath garnered a lot of attention after a viral campaign video on YouTubeCredit: Getty Images - Getty

She graduated with a with a degree in political science.

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Her career would see her  become the first female marine to fly in an F/A-18 on a combat mission, before moving into politics.

When she join the marines and where did she serve?

After graduating from the Naval Academy, at the age of 21 McGrath was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps.

On 9/11 she was strapped into an F/A-18 and was prepped to shoot down any commercial airliner believed headed for a terrorist attack on Los Angeles or San Diego.

Under her call sign, Krusty, McGrath was deployed to Kyrgyzstan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) where she flew combat missions in Afghanistan.

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In 2003, she completed her second combat tour with Marine All-Weather Fighter Attack Squadron 121 "Green Knights" to Iraq.

From 2005-06, Amy transitioned to become an F/A-18 pilot.

She narrowly lost out in Kentucky on TuesdayCredit: Copyright 2018 Bryan Woolston

While operational, she flew approximately 2,000 flight hours (350 combat flight hours), and flew 89 combat missions in both Afghanistan and Iraq, bombing Al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters.

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She has also flown in multiple exercises in the continental U.S., Alaska, Egypt, Australia, Korea and Japan.

In 2011, Amy was assigned to Washington D.C. as Marine Corps Congressional Fellow, serving as defense and foreign affairs policy advisor to Rep. Susan Davis of San Diego.

She served as an instructor until her 20-year retirement from the Marines Corps on June 1, 2017.

When did she get into politics?

On August 1, 2017, McGrath announced that she was running for the United States House of Representatives in the 2018 midterms.

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She represented the Democrat party for Kentucky's 6th congressional district.

Her campaign video was viewed more than one million times on YouTube.

McGrath won the Democratic Party primary on May 22, 2018.

She is pro-choice, supports addressing climate change, believes gay and transgender people should be able to serve in the military, opposes repealing Obamacare, and opposes President Donald Trump.

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McGrath is a decorated fighter pilot for the marines and was deployed to service on 9/11Credit: AP:Associated Press

She lost in the primary to Republican incumbent Andy Barr.

He managed to squeak by with roughly 51 percent of the votes on Tuesday after getting publicly backed by President Trump last month.

Does she have any children?

Amy and husband Erik, a retired naval Lieutenant, have three children, Theodore, six, George, four,  and Eleanor two.

Her husband is a life-long Republican.

They live in Georgetown, Kentucky.

 

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