$1.3 million, which his campaign said was a record for a Democratic Senate candidate in Kentucky. Mongiardo raised only $303,000 during the same period. In late July 2009, Bunning announced he would retire from the Senate after opposition from members of his own party including Kentucky's senior Senator, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, hampered his fundraising ability. Bunning's retirement created an open seat and cleared the way for Secretary of State Trey Grayson and Rand Paul – who had been fundraising without officially declaring their candidacies – to enter the Republican primary for the seat. At the McCracken County Democratic Executive Committee's annual Alben Barkley Dinner, Conway and Mongiardo began making their cases for the nomination, with Mongiardo touting his experience as a medical doctor and emphasizing the importance of health care in the national dialogue and Conway countering that he would be able to address a broader range of issues as a senator. A further contrast came to light in July 2009 when Conway announced his support for the proposed American Clean Energy and Security Act, which would have created a system of emissions trading in the United States, but qualified his support by saying the bill should include language to protect affected consumers and businesses; Mongiardo called the bill a "terrible piece of legislation". The bill became an issue at the annual political picnic at Fancy Farm, Kentucky, with Mongiardo calling on Conway to condemn the legislation and Paul telling the crowd that "[Conway is] kind of against it a little bit and he's kind of for it a little bit". Following the event, The Washington Posts Chris Cillizza, moved the primary between Conway and Mongiardo from seventh to fifth in his list of the ten most competitive primaries in the nation. In October 2009, Conway announced his opposition to the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act, the Senate version of the emissions trading bill sponsored by Democratic Senators John Kerry (D-MA) and Barbara Boxer (D-CA). Officially filing his candidacy papers on January 19, 2010 – the day Republican Scott Brown dealt national Democrats a blow by upsetting Democrat Martha Coakley in a special election to fill the Massachusetts Senate seat left vacant by the death of Edward Kennedy – Conway highlighted several issues where he differed with the national party. Saying he would ask to be assigned to the Senate Armed Services committee if elected, he criticized