Photo illustration of Sen. Mitch McConnell.

Sen. Mitch McConnell is not seeking re-election, marking the end of his career as one of the longest-sitting senators and opening the seat for the first time since 1985.

For 18 of his more than 40-year-long career, McConnell served as the Republican Party’s Senate leader, becoming the longest to hold a party leader position in American history.

Judiciary

Some of McConnell’s most impactful efforts have centered around the nation’s judiciary branch, according to Stephen Voss, an associate professor of political science at the University of Kentucky, including blocking Merrick Garland’s Supreme Court appointment during Barack Obama’s presidency.

After Justice Antonin Scalia’s passing, Obama nominated Garland to replace Scalia’s seat in 2016, according to NPR.

Following the nomination, NPR said McConnell, along with 11 other Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, signed a letter saying they did not intend to allow Obama to nominate any justice due to how late it was in his term.

Voss said McConnell’s actions regarding Garland’s appointment were risky since there was no guarantee a Republican would succeed Obama.

Had Hillary Clinton won the 2016 Presidential Election, Voss said she could have nominated someone less moderate than Garland.

“McConnell played poker, and went all in on stopping the Garland nomination,” Voss said. “She [Clinton] could have appointed someone McConnell would have liked even less, the Republicans would have liked much less than Merrick Garland.”

McConnell’s gamble “paid off,” according to Voss, as Trump was able to appoint three justices following his win in the 2016 election.

The senator’s influence on the Supreme Court has been so impactful that some refer to the current bench as the “McConnell Court,” according to Al Cross, a long-time Kentucky journalist and former political writer for the Courier-Journal.

Cross said the court’s conservative lean has likely impacted Supreme Court decisions, such as the case that overturned Roe v. Wade, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.

Money and opportunities brought to Kentucky

Kentucky is losing a “very effective money man in Washington” with McConnell’s seat opening, Cross said.

McConnell “claims” to have delivered $65 billion in federal dollars to the commonwealth, according to Cross, whether it be through specific programs McConnell helped authorize or provisions to federal spending bills called earmarks.

“And there will be quite a contrast,” Cross said, “Because Rand Paul is essentially against government spending. He is very much for a balanced budget, and he’s not been known to go after earmarks and other special appropriations for the state. So, it’ll be interesting to see if he’s willing or able to do any of that with McConnell gone.”

During his time as a political scientist and professor at UK, Voss said in addition to funding McConnell created internships and low-level jobs for many Kentucky students as they furthered their education.

Kentucky is not losing just one man, according to Voss, but rather a political infrastructure McConnell had assembled around him.

Campaign financing

McConnell increasingly became an advocate of “money as speech” when Republicans gained the advantage for greater recipients of money, Cross said, noting McConnell’s opposition to limiting campaign contributions.

Voss said McConnell has had the strong belief that limiting election spending violates the First Amendment, because it prohibits people from using their money to engage in elections.

The consequences of McConnell’s efforts regarding money and politics has longstanding impacts, according to Cross.

“Generally, it has made Congress more favorable to business and more favorable to certain one issue causes, like Israel or opposition to gun control,” Cross said, “and has made it harder to pass legislation that is in the broader public interest, as opposed to the special interests represented by these contributors.”