The Republican senator won a sixth term and landed his dream job as Senate majority leader on the strength of big GOP gains nationally.
When Senate control shifts to the GOP at the start of 2015, McConnell will be the first Kentuckian to lead the chamber since Democrat Alben Barkley pushed for President Franklin Roosevelt's agenda.
McConnell's political triumphs were selected as the year's biggest story in Kentucky in voting by subscribers and staff for The Associated Press.
Kentucky's No. 2 story was the car-swallowing sinkhole that opened in February at the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green.
The sight of eight crumpled cars toppled like toys in the gaping pit turned into an Internet sensation.
