McConnell Campaign, Facing Woman as Challenger, Says It Won't Shy From Issues Senator Mitch McConnell walked to his office from the Senate chamber last week. The minority leader faces challenges from both the left and right in Kentucky in 2014. WASHINGTON - As Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, a 71-year-old Republican fixture in Washington, prepares to try to fend off a challenge by Alison Lundergan Grimes, a 34-year-old Democratic political newcomer, his team says he will address and even embrace the gender and generational differences between them. Timothy D. Easley/Associated Press Alison Lundergan Grimes, Kentucky's secretary of state, is a Democrat challenging Mr. McConnell. Given recent struggles that Republican Senate contenders have had with women's issues, Mr. McConnell's advisers say they intend to confront head-on the criticism Democrats have already begun leveling against him on issues they view as particularly important to female voters. "The long and short of it is, we're going to be very aggressive in making sure people don't mischaracterize what his record is, especially when it comes to women and women's issues," said Josh Holmes, Mr. McConnell's chief of staff for Kentucky operations. Not only are we not afraid of it, we're very proud of it. Mr. McConnell, the Senate Republican leader, has faced a female opponent only once during his nearly 30 years in the Senate. He and his team seem eager to try to head off a campaign in 2014 that could become a referendum on how female voters feel about the Republican Party's recent record. Several times he has explained his vote this year against the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, and his office - normally averse to stories about staff - has willingly offered up for interviews the "strong women" with whom they say Mr. McConnell has always surrounded himself. His wife, Elaine Chao, served as labor secretary during President George W. Bush's entire time in office. He is also strengthening his campaign staff. According to recent financial reports, his re-election campaign has paid more than a dozen consultants and consulting firms, including Crowdverb, a Seattle start-up specializing in "behavioral science." And he has been aggressively raising money, traveling from Florida to New York to Texas to raise roughly $1.7 million in the second quarter, giving him nearly $9.6 million at the end of June. Mr. McConnell now also faces a Tea Party primary challenge from the right, which could further complicate his efforts as he tries to simultaneously appeal to his party's more conservative base and peel off the female voters Ms. Grimes is targeting. Matthew Bevin, a Louisville businessman, announced on Wednesday that he plans to challenge Mr. McConnell in the Republican primary. Democrats say Mr. McConnell has reason to be nervous, particularly after politically charged comments on gender issues badly cost Republicans in the 2012 elections, handing seats in Indiana and Missouri to Democrats. "I think everything Mitch McConnell does right now is just another example of how worried he is and how vulnerable he feels," said Representative John Yarmuth, a Kentucky Democrat and longtime opponent. Obviously, just the fact that there's a gender difference makes Alison much more credible with women voters, and she's going to have a much more receptive audience for discussions of things like how Mitch's attempts to destroy the Affordable Care Act will hurt women. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is already attacking Mr. McConnell on his opposition to the Paycheck Fairness Act, which would help women fight pay discrimination in the workplace, and his recent vote on the Violence Against Women Act. It is also trying to portray him as an embodiment of entrenched Washington. "He's a symbol, he's a caricature," said Matt Canter, a spokesman for the committee. If Walt Disney were making a villain of Washington, he'd probably look a lot like Mitch McConnell. Mr. McConnell's aides see the situation differently. They not only say that they are eager to defend his record on votes like the one against the Violence Against Women Act - asserting that he supported an even stronger alternative - but also say that a full accounting of his time in Washington will show that he is the candidate who best represents both the men and women of Kentucky. They say it is impossible to tell the story of Mr. McConnell without talking about the accomplished, powerful women who have always been integral to his life, including his mother, who devoted herself to helping a young Mitch overcome his polio diagnosis; Ms. Chao; and many of his top female staff members. Kitty Bennett and Derek Willis contributed reporting.