Andy Barr launched his campaign for Kentucky’s open Senate seat on Tuesday, looking to replace longtime Trump skeptic Mitch McConnell in the upper chamber.
He joins Kentucky’s former attorney general, Daniel Cameron, in what could become a thorny GOP primary for a likely ruby red seat.
Barr hopes his connections to President Donald Trump will help drive his campaign.
“The woke left wants to neuter America, literally. They hate our values, they hate our history. And goodness knows, they hate President Trump,” Barr said in a video announcement Tuesday. “But here in Kentucky, that’s why we love him. I’m Andy Barr, and I’m running for Senate to help our president save this great country.”
POLITICO reported on his plans to enter the race last week.
In 2024, Barr recaptured his central Kentucky House seat by a comfortable 26 points. He raised $1.8 million in the first three months of the year, dwarfing Cameron’s numbers. And just after jumping into the Senate race Tuesday, he scored an endorsement from Trump ally Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.).
Cameron has long been seen as an heir apparent to McConnell, but his political career was derailed after he lost a 2023 gubernatorial contest to Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear. Trump had endorsed Cameron’s governor’s campaign.
McConnell announced he would not seek reelection in February. The longtime Senate Republican leader, replaced by Sen. John Thune in January, has clashed repeatedly with Trump, especially in the president’s second term.
He’s panned the White House peace talks with Russia and earlier joined Democrats to vote against Trump nominees Pete Hegseth, Tulsi Gabbard and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
But Barr promises to be a close ally of the president in the upper chamber.
“Working with President Trump, I’ll fight to create jobs for hard-working Kentuckians instead of warm and fuzzies for hard-core liberals,” Barr said.
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