by McKenna Horsley and Jamie Lucke, Kentucky Lantern
April 22, 2025

Railing against the “woke left” and embracing President Donald Trump, Kentucky Republican U.S. Rep. Andy Barr confirmed his run for U.S. Senate by unveiling a video Tuesday.

Barr’s announcement comes as no surprise after weeks of speculation following Sen. Mitch McConnell’s announcement in February that he would not seek reelection. McConnell has held the seat since 1984.

In the video, Barr  denounces “insane DEI initiatives,” referring to diversity, equity and inclusion programs that Trump has banned in the federal government and is moving to end elsewhere. Barr echoes also Trump’s presidential campaign’s emphasis on transgender issues, vowing to “lock up the sickos who allow biological men to share locker rooms with our daughters.”

Republican Daniel Cameron, a former Kentucky attorney general, announced his candidacy on social media as soon as McConnell ended his announcement that he would not run. It’s Cameron’s first foray back into Kentucky politics after losing the 2023 gubernatorial election to Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear. Cameron reported having raised $508,000 for his Senate run as of March 31.

Meanwhile, Barr raised $1.8 million in the same period and has $5.3 million on hand, according to federal campaign finance reports.

Barr, of Lexington, was first elected to the House in 2013. Currently, he is a senior member of the House Financial Services Committee and chairman of the Financial Institutions and Monetary Policy Subcommittee. He also serves on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Barr in December lost a Republican caucus vote to be chairman of the powerful Financial Services Committee, which oversees U.S. banking  and monetary policy. He had earlier said a House committee chairmanship would preclude his running for the Senate, McClatchy reported.

In the weeks leading up to Barr’s announcement, the congressman was among Republicans facing pressure from their constituents to have an in-person town hall over growing frustrations with President Donald Trump’s agenda. Last month, more than 900 people gathered for a town hall at the Kentucky Theatre in Lexington, but Barr declined to attend. He did have a telephone town hall days later.

The Republican primary looks to be contentious between Barr and Cameron, particularly as they seek a coveted endorsement from Trump. Cameron had Trump’s backing for his failed 2023 race. Barr has recently emphasized his support for the president’s agenda and for his billionaire adviser Elon Musk. At a White House event earlier this month, Trump said while acknowledging Barr’s attendance: “Good luck with everything. I hear good things.”

A possible third candidate, Lexington-based businessman Nate Morris, has also been mulling a run for Senate but has not made a formal announcement. Morris has gained the eye of Trump world allies, including the president’s son, Donald Trump Jr. Morris’ support for the president’s tariff plans was also included in a recent White House press release.

On the Democratic side, House Minority Floor Leader Rep. Pamela Stevenson, of Louisville, has announced her candidacy for the race. Like Cameron, she was a statewide candidate in 2023, losing the attorney general race to Republican Russell Coleman. Rocky Adkins, a senior adviser to Beshear and former state House Democratic floor leader, has not ruled out a Senate run himself.

Kentucky Democratic Party Chair Colmon Elridge in a statement said Barr in Congress has done “absolutely nothing” while the Trump administration “cripples our economy, sends prices skyrocketing, targets Kentucky’s signature industries and threatens to gut health care that 1.5 million Kentuckians rely on.”

“Today, he managed to launch his U.S. Senate campaign with a two-minute video that grovels for Trump’s endorsement and ignores the very real problems Kentuckians face every day,” Elridge said.

Barr’s Senate candidacy now opens the race for Kentucky’s 6th Congressional District — a seat in central Kentucky that Democrats are hoping to flip. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee previously listed Barr’s current seat as one of the districts it views as in play heading into midterm elections in 2026.

This story was updated with a statement from the Kentucky Democratic Party chair.

Kentucky Lantern is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kentucky Lantern maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jamie Lucke for questions: [email protected].