Rep. Andy Barr Announces Senate Campaign for Mitch McConnell’s Seat

Barr is running against former state Attorney General Daniel Cameron for McConnell’s Senate seat, which the senator has held for over 40 years.

U.S. Rep. Andy Barr (R-Ky.) speaks to the press during a campaign stop for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) in Lawrenceburg, Ky., on Oct. 28, 2020. Jon Cherry/Getty Images

WASHINGTON—Rep. Andy Barr (R-Ky.) on April 22 announced his candidacy for the U.S. Senate election in Kentucky in 2026, for the seat currently held by senior Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), the former leader of the Senate Republican Conference.

McConnell, 83, served as the leader of Senate Republicans for 18 years from 2007 to 2025, during which time he served as the Senate Majority Leader for six years, from 2015 to 2021 and as Minority Leader for the remainder.

His long tenure at the helm of the conference involved many critical moments for the Senate GOP, including the nominations of three Supreme Court justices and legislation during President Donald Trump’s first term in office. His relationship with Trump has soured in recent years, and he announced on Feb. 20 that he would retire at the end of the 119th Congress after 42 years in office.

The race to replace McConnell in Kentucky—a solidly Republican state in federal politics but where a Democrat, Gov. Andy Beshear, has won elections to two terms in office—is considered highly competitive in 2026.

Already, McConnell’s protégé, former state Attorney General Daniel Jay Cameron, has announced his candidacy. Barr’s entry into the race makes the primary competitive between two of the state’s well-known politicians.

“The great Andy Barr re-brand is on as he now will try and convince Kentucky he’s actually conservative and MAGA. He’s not,” Brandon Moody, the Cameron campaign’s general consultant, said in an email to The Epoch Times. “Kentucky deserves real America First leadership ... that’s why Daniel Cameron is up 44–18 in the latest poll.”

“The woke Left wants to neuter America, literally. They hate our values, they hate our history, and goodness knows they hate President Trump. ... I’m running for Senate to help our president save this great country,” said Barr in an announcement video posted on social media, emphasizing his support for Trump as the theme of his candidacy. “We‘ll cut taxes, slash waste, and fire the deep state bureaucrats ... we’ll deport illegal aliens.”

Barr has represented Kentucky’s Sixth Congressional District—covering the cities of Lexington, Richmond, and Georgetown—since 2013. He’s presently serving his seventh term in the House of Representatives.

He began working in politics as an intern in McConnell’s Senate office while in college and served as a legislative assistant to Rep. Jim Talent (R-Mo.) before Talent’s election to the Senate.

As an attorney, Barr worked under late-Gov. Steve Beshear, Andy Beshear’s father, during their service at a Lexington-area law firm, as well as for Steve Beshear’s predecessor, Gov. Ernie Fletcher.

Andy Beshear has declined to be a candidate in the Senate race, and the only Democrat competing in their party’s primary is state House Minority Leader Pamela Stevenson.

On the day that Barr announced his candidacy, he received the endorsement of Rep. Hal Rogers (R-Ky.), dean of the House of Representatives.

Barr’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.