Rep. Andy Barr won Kentucky’s Republican Senate primary on Tuesday, clearing an 11-person field and moving into November’s race to replace retiring Sen. Mitch McConnell.
Barr, a Republican from Kentucky, beat his main rival, former state Attorney General Daniel Cameron, in a contest that had been shaped late in the campaign by an endorsement from Donald Trump. Trump called Barr the only candidate who would easily defeat the Democrat in what he described as one of the most important Elections in American History.
The result gives Barr, who served seven terms in the House before his Senate bid, a direct path to a general election that will decide who succeeds McConnell, the longest-serving Republican leader in Senate history. Barr said on Monday that his support had surged after Trump backed him, while also trying to avoid sounding overconfident. “We did have a lead before the endorsement,” he said. “Our lead has skyrocketed since then in the polling that we're looking at, but we don't take anything for granted.”
The primary was crowded from the start, with 11 Republicans competing for the nomination in a state where the party sees an opening because McConnell is stepping aside. Trump’s late endorsement helped turn the race into a clear test of his influence over the Kentucky GOP, and Barr also won over the president’s backing on another point that mattered to the base: Trump said Barr was a strong supporter of eliminating the filibuster.
Cameron, who had been the best-known challenger entering the race, framed the contest as a rejection of Washington habits and a search for a more responsive voice. “I think people are tired of the games that are played in Washington and want somebody that's looking out for their interests,” he said in comments to WHAS11 before Election Day.
The November race now becomes the final step in choosing McConnell’s successor. Barr enters it with the Republican nomination, Trump’s backing and a party base that appears to have moved quickly behind him after the endorsement. Whether that support carries into the general election will determine if Republicans keep the seat in Kentucky and close the era of McConnell, whose long tenure helped define the party in the Senate.
