Andy Barr Enters Kentucky Senate Race to Succeed Mitch McConnell

The race in Kentucky to succeed Senator Mitch McConnell, an omnipresent force in Republican politics for 40 years, is shaping up to be one of the biggest and most expensive G.O.P.clashes of 2026.Representative Andy Barr, a Republican who was first elected to Congress in 2012, announced on Tuesday that he was running for the seat that will be vacated by Mr.

McConnell’s retirement.Mr.

Barr’s candidacy sets up a Republican primary battle against Daniel Cameron, a former state attorney general and a protégé of Mr.McConnell’s.While Mr.

Barr and Mr.Cameron are the only official G.O.P.

candidates so far, several other well-known Kentucky Republicans, including Nate Morris, a wealthy businessman with ties to Vice President JD Vance and Donald Trump Jr., have indicated an interest in the seat.The Republican primary race will revolve around two party titans — President Trump and Mr.McConnell — whose approval among conservatives has sharply diverged.

The candidates will feel compelled to demonstrate their pro-Trump credentials as they jockey for the president’s coveted endorsement.That battle is poised to lead to increased public criticism of Mr.

McConnell, whose popularity among Republican voters has taken a nosedive.In a two-minute video on social media announcing his candidacy, Mr.Barr made no mention of Mr.

McConnell but brought up Mr.Trump four times.“I’m running for Senate to help our president save this great country,” he says in the video.

He later adds, “Working with President Trump, I’ll fight to create jobs for hardworking Kentuckians, instead of warm and fuzzies for hard-core liberals.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want al...