For those who haven’t done well in the last six or eight years, Bruce Lunsford has a message: “I’m your guy.”

He announced that Friday evening at the home of local businessman David Garvin, in the presence of about 30 local business and political leaders.

Lunsford is running against Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell, and came to organize local supporters for the three-month haul to the election.

“We are a grass-roots campaign, from the bottom up, because we know Mitch is going to run a campaign from the top down,” Lunsford said from a seat next to Garvin’s desk.

“I consider this one of the four or five key areas of the state,” he said. Bowling Green is a “swing area” where votes are often closely split, and a strong run here would give him a chance, Lunsford said. Thus he plans to return often, he said.

Garvin said he and Lunsford are tentatively planning a major campaign rally at Beech Bend Park on Sept. 18, depending on availability.

Among the crowd were Warren County Sheriff Jerry “Peanuts” Gaines, Mayor Elaine Walker, District 2 Magistrate Richard Morgan, developer Jim Scott, Garvin’s business partner Steve Snodgrass, Citizens First Bank CEO Mary Cohron and her son, Warren County Commonwealth’s Attorney Chris Cohron, Waste Connections division manager Lawrence White, Romanza Johnson, former mayors Eldon Renaud and Patsy Sloan, attorneys Whayne Priest and Charles English Sr. and Hilliard Lyons branch manager Pete Mahurin.

Also there was Garvin’s sister Marty Deputy, whom he said is usually his polar opposite in political opinion.

Lunsford said that only the richest few percent of Americans have seen great benefit from the past few years of prosperity, but now all are feeling the crunch of economic troubles. It’s not just lower-income workers, but upper-middle class families watching 401(k)s sink, college expenses rise and health care become a luxury, he said.

“I think it’s time for a change,” Lunsford said. “This is a mission I’m on. I believe we have to have people who aren’t for sale in Washington.”

He predicted “a slugfest,” acknowledging that he’s not going to outspend the famously well-financed four-term senator. Lunsford described McConnell as the well-paid servant of special interests including big oil, insurance and drug companies. He sought to turn his fundraising disadvantage into a positive talking point, arguing that the fact he’s spending much of his own fortune on the race shows he’s not in it for the money.

Lunsford said that after the 2007 gubernatorial election, Gov. Steve Beshear and others asked him to consider running against McConnell. He faces a huge disparity in fundraising and name recognition.

“I’m running against someone who’s been on the public payroll for 40 years,” Lunsford said.

McConnell became chief legislative assistant for Sen. Marlow Cook in 1968, before serving as a deputy assistant attorney general under President Gerald Ford. He was Jefferson County judge-executive from 1978 until his 1984 election to the Senate.

Garvin said that McConnell touts his status as Senate minority leader to bring money and projects to Kentucky. But Democrats are very likely to have a strong majority for the foreseeable future, diminishing that clout, he said. Garvin argued that Lunsford can do more for Kentucky as a junior senator in the majority than McConnell can by heading the minority.

He said Lunsford called him about a week ago to ask if he’d get involved and call others.

“I’ve known Bruce for 25 years,” Garvin said, testifying to his integrity and intelligence.

He hopes others will take his endorsement, but said he’s already learned there’s a lot of work to do. Garvin singled out Regina Newell in the crowd and said she’d verbally shrugged at the mention of Lunsford’s name.

“The only thing I know about him is everything negative that I’ve heard,” she told Garvin, referring to an attack ad McConnell has been airing against Lunsford across the state.

“Well, you know me, don’t you?” Garvin told her. “I’m telling you that he’s a good man.”

Lunsford, an attorney and CPA, served as Gov. John Y. Brown’s secretary of commerce from 1980 to 1983. He sought the 2003 Democratic nomination for governor, dropping out of the race after spending $8 million and throwing his support to the campaign of House Speaker Jody Richards, D-Bowling Green.

Lunsford ran for governor again in 2007, but lost the Democratic primary by a wide margin. Yet this year, he easily won the primary over Greg Fischer to face McConnell in the fall.

Lunsford co-founded health care giant Vencor in 1985. While he served as chairman and CEO, Vencor became one of the country’s largest nursing-home companies, employing 62,000 people. In late 1997, Lunsford and other officers of Vencor and its sister company Ventas were sued in U.S. District Court by stockholders for overstating their 1997 financial condition. The defendants agreed in 2002 to a $3 million cash settlement without admitting any wrongdoing. Ventas later changed its name to Kindred Healthcare.

In 1998, Vencor was ordered to pay a $270,000 settlement for attempting to evict 54 Medicaid patients from one of its nursing homes in Florida, ostensibly for renovations, while higher-paying private patients were allowed to stay, the Associated Press reported. Similar charges surfaced in 16 other states.

Lunsford left Vencor in January 1999 with a multimillion-dollar compensation package. Shortly thereafter, Vencor was accused of Medicaid fraud and eventually paid a $104 million settlement on federal charges, driving the company into bankruptcy reorganization. He retained high-level involvement in some of Vencor’s successor companies for several years.