Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R) on Friday became Kentucky’s longest-serving Senator, surpassing the record of former Sen. Wendell Ford (D), the Associated Press reported.

Ford served 8,772 days as a Senator and rose to the No. 2 spot in the Senate Democratic leadership.

McConnell, 66, was elected to his fifth term in November.

Looking back on his career, McConnell told the AP that the 2004 tobacco buyout was his most notable legislative achievement. The buyout is scheduled to pump about $2.5 billion into Kentucky over 10 years.