Former Kentucky AG who handled Breonna Taylor probe promptly announces Senate bid to replace Mitch McConnell
Cameron, who was Kentucky's first Black attorney general, announced his Senate campaign just minutes after McConnell said he would not seek re-election in 2026.
"Kentucky, it's time for a new generation of leadership in the U.S. Senate. Let's do this," Cameron wrote on X, sharing a screenshot of himself, his wife and their children seen on the Daniel Cameron U.S. Senate campaign website.
Fox News Digital reached out to Cameron's campaign for comment but did not immediately hear back.
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A seven-term senator, McConnell announced on his 83rd birthday that he would not seek re-election and would retire at the end of his term. McConnell recently voted against several of President Donald Trump's Cabinet picks: National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. McConnell voted in favor of Kash Patel, whom the Senate confirmed as Trump's FBI director on Thursday.
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In a statement obtained by Fox News Digital, National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) Chair Tim Scott, R-S.C., said McConnell has "dedicated his life to public service and the state he loves" and "our country is grateful for his leadership and legacy of confirming conservative judges and justices, and safeguarding the Republican Senate Majority."
"Kentucky is a red state, so the NRSC is confident that our eventual nominee will be a principled, America First conservative who will join our Majority's fight for our nation's Golden Era," Scott said.
Cameron has long been groomed to become McConnell's replacement. He unsuccessfully ran for governor in 2023 against two-term Democrat Andy Beshear.
In his first year as attorney general, Cameron handled the investigation into Breonna Taylor's shooting death during a March 2020 Louisville police raid at a time when George Floyd-era protests and riots swept the nation.
His office ultimately declined to charge two officers who opened fire, but indicted a third on wanton endangerment over bullets that entered a neighbor's apartment. That officer was acquitted in a state trial, but the Justice Department brought federal charges against all three.
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Cameron, the current CEO of the 1792 Exchange, a non-profit that aims to hold companies accountable for pushing a "far-left ideology," might face GOP primary competition.
Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky., reiterated Thursday that he is "considering running for Senate because Kentucky deserves a Senator who will fight for President Trump and the America First Agenda."
"I've done that every day in the House and would do so in the Senate," Barr said. "I'm encouraged by the outpouring of support and my family and I will be making a decision about our future soon."
Nate Morris, an entrepreneur serving as chairman and CEO of the Louisville-based Morris Industries, said last week he was still considering a run for McConnell's seat, while slamming other potential candidates waiting for McConnell to back out first.
"If you're asking for a permission slip to run for office here in Kentucky from Mitch McConnell, then you shouldn't be running in the first place," Morris said. "The last thing Kentucky needs is another puppet for Mitch McConnell running for office."
As for Democrats, Beshear's spokesman Eric Hyers said in a post on X that the governor would not be running to fill McConnell's seat.
Democratic state Rep. Pamela Stevenson of Louisville has long been fundraising to run for McConnell's seat, according to the Courier Journal.
Kentucky leans red in federal elections, such as Senate races, but has been more competitive during gubernatorial contests.
Fox News' Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.Original article source: Former Kentucky AG who handled Breonna Taylor probe promptly announces Senate bid to replace Mitch McConnell
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USA Today
23 minutes ago
- USA Today
Byron Black executed for triple murder despite concerns of disabilities, heart device
The execution came after Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee declined requests, including from some Republicans, to intervene because of the inmate's intellectual disabilities and heart device. Tennessee has executed a man for the 1988 murder of his girlfriend and her two young daughters despite arguments he suffered from intellectual disabilities and concerns his heart device would shock him back to life during the lethal injection. The state executed Byron Black on Tuesday, Aug. 5, after Gov. Bill Lee declined requests from attorneys, advocacy groups and even some Republicans to intervene. He was pronounced dead at 10:43 a.m. CT. "This is hurting so bad," Black said during the execution, according to news media witnesses who saw him die. On March 28, 1988, Angela Clay and her eldest daughter, 9-year-old Latoya, were found shot dead in bed. Clay's other daughter, 6-year-old Lakeisha, was found dead on the floor in another bedroom with multiple gunshot wounds. Black became the 28th inmate executed in the U.S. this year, a 10-year high, with at least nine more executions scheduled. He's the second inmate to be put to death in Tennessee this year after a five-year break in executions in the state. Black's case stands out for two reasons. What his legal team said was an "undisputed intellectual disability" had many calling for a reprieve, including some Republicans. And his attorneys raised serious questions about whether Black's implanted heart device would cause "a prolonged and torturous execution" in violation of the U.S. Constitution. Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti told USA TODAY in a statement that expert testimony "refutes the suggestion that Black would suffer severe pain if executed" and that the state was seeking "to hold Black accountable for his horrific crimes." Here's what you need to know about the execution, the crime and the issues surrounding the case. What was Byron Black convicted of? Black was convicted of fatally shooting his girlfriend, Angela Clay, and her two daughters: 9-year-old Latoya and 6-year-old Lakeisha. They were murdered on March 27, 1988. At the time, Black had been on work release from prison for shooting Clay's estranged husband and her daughters' father, Bennie Clay, in 1986. Prosecutors told jurors at trial that Black killed Angela Clay because he was jealous of her ongoing relationship with her ex. Investigators believe that Angela Clay and Latoya were shot as they slept, while Lakeisha appeared to have tried to escape after being wounded in the chest and pelvis. Bennie Clay previously told The Tennessean, part of the USA TODAY Network, he believes Black killed the girls to spite him. "My kids, they were babies," he told the newspaper. "They were smart, they were gonna be something. They never got the chance." More recently, he told The Tennessean he planned to attend the execution, though he said he has forgiven Black. 'God has a plan for everything,' he told the newspaper. 'He had a plan when he took my girls. He needed them more than I did, I guess.' Judge ordered Byron Black's heart device removed before execution On July 22, a judge ordered that a heart device implanted in Black needed to be removed at a hospital the morning of his execution, a development that appeared to complicate matters as a Nashville hospital declined to participate. But the Tennessee Supreme Court overturned the judge's order, and the U.S. Supreme Court backed that up, clearing the way for Black to be executed despite the heart device. His attorneys argued that the device, designed to revive the heart, could lead to "a prolonged and torturous execution." "It's horrifying to think about this frail old man being shocked over and over as the device attempts to restore his heart's rhythm even as the State works to kill him," Henry said in a statement. The state argued that Black's heart device would not cause him pain. Robin, Maher, executive director of the nonprofit Death Penalty Information Center, told USA TODAY that an inmate being executed with a defibrillator implant was "a completely unprecedented issue." But, she added, "one I fear we will see again as states move toward executing aging prisoners on death row." A reporter for The Tennessean was among the witnesses to the execution and USA TODAY will update this story with her observations. Tennessee governor declined to intervene With their arguments over Black's heart device at the end of the legal road, his attorneys re-focused their attention on his intellectual disabilities during his final days and hours, calling on Republican Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee to stop the execution and prevent "a grotesque spectacle." Citing Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and exposure to toxic lead, Black's attorneys said mental impairments meant that he always had to live with and rely on family. More recently on death row, his attorneys said that other inmates had to "do his everyday tasks for him, including cleaning his cell, doing his laundry, and microwaving his food." "If ever a case called for the Governor to grant clemency or, at the very least, a reprieve, it is this one," Henry said in a statement. The director of Tennessee Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty said that she supports accountability for people who commit heinous crimes, but "the law is clear that we do not execute people with intellectual disability." "Governor Lee can insist on accountability while ensuring that the law is also followed. A situation such as this is exactly why governors have clemency power," Jasmine Woodson said in a statement. "Mr. Black has spent over three decades in prison for this crime and will never be released. As a conservative, I believe that he should remain behind bars, but he should not be executed." Lee's office did not respond to repeated requests for comment from USA TODAY. In his statement to USA TODAY, Attorney General Skrmetti pushed back at findings that Black was intellectually disabled and said that "over the decades, courts have uniformly denied Black's eleven distinct attempts to overturn his murder convictions and death sentence." Angela Clay's family long sought justice Earlier this year, Angela Clay's sister, Linette Bell, told The Tennessean she and her family were frustrated with years of delays, court hearings, and uncertainty: "He needs to pay for what he did." Angela Clay's mother, Marie Bell, told The Tennessean she had been waiting far too long. "I'm 88 years old and I just want to see it before I leave this Earth," she said. Outside the prison ahead of the execution on Tuesday, Angela Clay's niece, Nicoule Davis, told The Tennessean "it's time for a celebration." "It's time for a celebration," Davis said. "We've been waiting for years and years." Family members, some of whom witnessed the execution, were expected to address reporters afterward, and this story will be updated with their comments. What was Byron Black's last meal? Black's last meal was pizza with mushrooms and sausage, donuts, and butter pecan ice cream. Byron Black's execution is second in the state this year Black is the second inmate to be executed in Tennessee this year following a five-year break in the death penalty in the state. The break followed an independent review that found the Tennessee Department of Corrections was not consistently testing execution drugs for potency and purity. Nationwide, nine more executions are scheduled for this year, with more expected to be carried out as governors sign more death warrants. The next execution is Kayle Barrington Bates in Florida on Aug. 19 for the 1982 stabbing death of a 24-year-old woman named Janet White, who was kidnapped from her office and taken to the woods before Bates beat her, tried to rape her and ultimately killed her. Contributing: Kelly Puente, The Tennessean Amanda Lee Myers is a senior crime reporter for USA TODAY. Follow her on X at @amandaleeusat.
Los Angeles Times
23 minutes ago
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Tennessee executes inmate by lethal injection without deactivating his implanted defibrillator
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