Republican U.S. Rep. Andy Barr launched a high-stakes Senate campaign Tuesday, opting to give up his seemingly secure House seat next year and enter the competitive contest to succeed longtime Sen. Mitch McConnell.
Barr touted his congressional experience and support for President Donald Trump's policies in announcing his candidacy in Richmond, in his district.
“I am running for Senate because that is how I can be most helpful to President Trump’s mission to put America back on the right track,” he told The Associated Press.
His decision ensures that Republicans will have a robust 2026 Senate primary, but it also creates what Democrats see as a potential pickup opportunity in the Lexington-area House district, where a strong candidate could give them an outside chance in the midterm election.
Barr joins former state Attorney General Daniel Cameron in the race for the Senate seat, which has been held by McConnell for 40 years. Republican businessman Nate Morris also has signaled strong interest in running, portraying himself as a political outsider.
All three have distanced themselves from McConnell while jockeying for Trump's endorsement, seen as potentially decisive.
“It will be a competitive primary,” said Scott Jennings, a Republican political strategist. “Of course, the 500-pound gorilla is President Donald Trump. If he decides he prefers one of these candidates — or someone else — he can end the primary at a moment’s notice by endorsing that person.”
Barr said via in response to emailed questions that he supports Trump's immigration and tariff policies. He said the president “is right to negotiate better, more reciprocal, trade deals to secure the resiliency of our supply chains and stop unfair practices that harm American workers and businesses.”
The president's tariff plan has drawn criticism from several sources, including Republicans like McConnell and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul.
McConnell, the longest-serving Senate party leader in U.S. history, announced in February that he would not seek reelection. McConnell previously relinquished his Senate leadership post.
On the Democratic side, state Rep. Pamela Stevenson is also running for Senate. Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear, who cannot seek reelection due to term limits, has ruled out a Senate bid as speculation continues to build over whether he may run for president in 2028.
A potential wild card for the Senate race is Beshear's senior adviser, Democrat Rocky Adkins, a longtime state lawmaker with deep political connections.
The last Democrat to win a Senate race in Kentucky was Wendell Ford in 1992.
In the GOP primary, Cameron has the edge in name recognition, having run twice for statewide office: He was elected attorney general in 2019 and lost the governor's race to Beshear in 2023.
His campaign said in a statement Tuesday that Cameron is the “tried-and-true Trump conservative.”
“Daniel Cameron has earned the respect of Republican primary voters by fighting as Attorney General for conservative values alongside President Trump.”
Barr is making his first bid for statewide office, but his reputation as a formidable fundraiser will enable him to elevate his profile outside his congressional district, which reaches from the state's bluegrass region to the Appalachian foothills and includes Lexington, the state's second-largest city.
Barr is a senior member of the House Financial Services Committee and leads a subcommittee overseeing the Federal Reserve and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. He competed for the full committee's chairmanship last year but came up short, a setback that set his Senate bid in motion.
He entered Congress after defeating a Democratic incumbent in 2012 and has won reelection by wide margins except in 2018, when he fended off a strong challenge from Democrat Amy McGrath.
Democrats have signaled that they plan to target Barr's district along with a few dozen others nationwide in trying to win back the House next year. Republicans scoff at Democratic hopes of flipping Barr's district, which seemed more GOP-friendly after the last round of redistricting.
FILE - Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky., speaks before a gathering to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail at the Frazier History Museum in Louisville, Ky., June 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley, File)
