Former 3rd District Congressman and radio talk show host Mike Ward (D-Louisville) was the star of the latest email dispatch from the campaign of Democratic Senate candidate Bruce Lunsford.

In a message sent to supporters, Ward says Lunsford is"the only Democrat who can beat Mitch McConnell and that is why I am endorsing his candidacy for U.S. Senate."

While the Lunsford campaign has changed tact and begun to target primary opponent Greg Fischer more directly, Ward's endorsement message focused only on incumbent Senator Mitch McConnell - the man who Fischer and Lunsford are vying to take on in November.

"While Mitch McConnell was rising through the ranks of the U.S. Senate, I served consecutively as a special assistant to the Jefferson County Judge-Executive, State Representative and then U.S. Congressman, so I've had an insider's view of how McConnell has grown farther and farther out of touch with Kentuckians over nearly a quarter of a century," said Ward.

Ward served one term in the U.S. House of Representatives, from 1994 to 1996, when he was defeated by Anne Northup.

In 2006, Ward endorsed Colonel Andrew Horne in the 3rd District Democratic Primary. Horne ultimately lost to John Yarmuth in that primary, and Yarmuth moved forward to knock off an incumbent Northup.

Horne ran a brief campaign for the Democratic U.S. Senate nomination this year before dropping out and subsequently endorsing Lunsford.