Rep. Andy Barr (R-KY) became the second Republican candidate on Tuesday for Kentucky’s open Senate seat next year in what is shaping up to be a competitive primary to determine the successor of retiring Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY).
Barr, serving his seventh term in the House, sought to present a unified front with President Donald Trump’s agenda in a campaign launch video, vowing to take on the “woke left” that “wants to neuter America — literally.”
“They hate our values. They hate our history. And, goodness knows, they hate President Trump. But here in Kentucky, that’s why we love him,” Barr said. “I’m running for Senate to help our president save this great country.”
The 51-year-old’s entry into the race pits him squarely against Daniel Cameron, Kentucky’s first black attorney general and ex-gubernatorial candidate. Businessman Nate Morris, CEO of Morris Industries and former CEO of Rubicon Investments, is also a rumored contender.
Barr lauded Trump’s efforts to “slash waste and fire the deep-state bureaucrats who steal our freedoms,” praised the administration’s sweeping deportations of illegal immigrants, and dove into several culture war issues.
“My plan for these insane DEI initiatives is pretty simple: D-I-E,” he said. “Working with President Trump, I’ll fight to create jobs for hard-working Kentuckians, instead of warm and fuzzies for hardcore liberals.”
Barr went on to say he’ll “get rid of this anti-coal, do-gooder [Environmental, Social, and Governance] garbage once and for all.” On transgender issues, the conservative father stated he’ll “fight to lock up the sickos who allow biological men to share locker rooms with our daughters.”
“The liberals are going to cry, whine, and blame Trump,” he said. “They always do.”
McConnell stepped down from his leadership post at the end of last year as the longest-serving Senate GOP leader, a post he had held since 2007. He announced in February that he would retire upon concluding his seventh term in January 2027, capping off a decadeslong political career on Capitol Hill that began in 1985.
McConnell plans to remain neutral in the primary but support the eventual Republican nominee in what is a safe seat for the party. Although he has close ties with both Barr and Cameron, McConnell’s endorsement could be a kiss of death among Kentucky’s more Make America Great Again-aligned voting base over his icy relationship with Trump.
“I don’t think Kentucky voters need any advice from me. They can make the decision about who they want to replace me,” McConnell told Kentucky radio host Terry Meiners last week. “To put it another way, I’m not going to get involved in it until we have a nominee, and obviously, I’m going to support the Republican nominee.”
Since announcing his candidacy, Cameron has distanced himself from McConnell, his former mentor. He has criticized McConnell’s votes against some of Trump’s Cabinet nominees and tried to realign himself more closely to Trump, who, in 2023, blamed Cameron’s loss to Gov. Andy Beshear (D-KY) on his political proximity to McConnell.
“Daniel Cameron lost because he couldn’t alleviate the stench of Mitch McConnell,” Trump posted to Truth Social then. “I told him early that’s a big burden to overcome. McConnell and Romney are Kryptonite for Republican Candidates. I moved him up 25 Points, but the McConnell relationship was ‘too much to bear.’ Tate Reeves, on the other hand, surged to a win for Governor in Mississippi after my involvement. Congratulations to Tate!”
Trump has also not made an endorsement in the race.
Meanwhile, Morris’s fierce criticism of McConnell has already caught the eye of another Trump family member despite not being a declared candidate: his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr.
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In February, a video post from Morris saying the “last thing Kentucky needs is another puppet for Mitch McConnell running for office” was praised by Trump Jr.
“If you’re running for office, especially in Kentucky, and you want my support, don’t even bother reaching out to me unless you’re willing to publicly oppose Mitch McConnell like this,” Trump Jr. said of Morris’s remarks.
