The Fancy Farm picnic will be the backdrop for an early face-off between Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Democratic challenger Alison Lundergan Grimes.
Both campaigns said Tuesday their candidates will attend the Aug. 3 event in western Kentucky.
McConnell campaign manager Jesse Benton said the Republican senator wants to hear Grimes' views on health care, coal and gun rights.
Grimes political adviser Jonathan Hurst referred to McConnell as "Sen. Gridlock" and said the campaign looks forward to hearing the senator defend to his long record in Washington.
McConnell is seeking election to a sixth Senate term next year. Grimes is in her first term as Kentucky's secretary of state.Although politics is a major draw, the picnic is a fundraiser for St. Jerome Parish. It typically draws 10,000 people.
