Rep. Andy Barr announced Tuesday fthat he will run for Kentucky’s U.S. Senate seat in 2026, looking to replace longtime Republican leader Mitch McConnell, who is retiring.
Mr. Barr will run against former Attorney General Daniel Cameron, a McConnell ally, in what is expected to be a tough Republican primary. Whoever does win will be favored in the general election in conservative Kentucky.
If elected, the current House member will be a stark difference from Mr. McConnell, who became the longest-serving Senate leader in history last February.
Mr. McConnell announced on his 83rd birthday he would not seek re-election next year. He told the world of his plan one month after he stepped down from his post as Senate Republican leader and was replaced by Sen. John Thune of South Dakota.
The Republican octogenarian eventually supported all three of President Trump’s presidential bids, but he has had a rocky relationship with him through the years.
Mr. Barr’s relationship with Mr. Trump though is much different. In his campaign launch ad he talks up the president while condemning woke ideology.
“The United States is the greatest country on Earth, and it’s not even close. But here’s the problem, the woke left wants to neuter America. Literally. They hate our values,” Mr. Barr says.
“They hate our history, and, goodness knows, they hate President Trump. But here in Kentucky, that’s why we love it. I’m Andy Barr and I’m running for Senate to help our president save this great country together. We’ll cut taxes, slash waste and fire the deep state bureaucrats who steal our freedoms.”
He also vowed to “deport illegal aliens instead of putting them up in luxury hotels. And my plan for these insane DEI initiatives is pretty simple. D-I-E. Working with President Trump, I’ll fight to create jobs for hard working Kentuckians instead of warm and fuzzies for hardcore liberals.”
Mr. Cameron was previously seen as the ideal candidate to replace Mr. McConnell, but his failed campaign bid, which Mr. Trump endorsed, to Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear during the 2023 gubernatorial election and hurt his political career.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee said Mr. Barr’s campaign is a sign that House Republicans “are running for the exits because they know their cost-raising, freedom-threatening agenda is deeply unpopular with voters.”
