Kentucky GOP hopefuls start taking shots as race for McConnell Senate seat begins
LEXINGTON, Ky. (FOX 56) — It is an off year for elections in Kentucky, but that's not stopping the campaign machine that's coming together in the race to replace Senator Mitch McConnell.
'There is an early primary that is happening right now, and it's for one vote. It is Donald Trump,' FOX 56 News Political Analyst Jonathan Miller said Monday.
Who is running to replace Sen. Mitch McConnell in Kentucky?
In a social media video earlier that day, the sole declared GOP candidate for McConnell's Senate seat, former attorney general and gubernatorial candidate Daniel Cameron, tried offering some distance between himself and the office's current occupant.
'Now what we saw from Mitch McConnell in voting against Pete Hegseth, Tulsi Gabbard, and RFK was just flat out wrong,' Cameron said in the video, adding that he would have voted for them if he was in the office and offering other contrasts from McConnell's policy positions.
'And when it comes to Ukraine funding, enough is enough,' he said.
Cameron's longtime relationship with McConnell, someone he's cited as a mentor, is one thing Miller said could be a challenge for Cameron when otherwise he considers him the most recognizable name and an early favorite.
'Right now, among the MAGA faction, which is the dominant faction in Kentucky politics, he's (McConnell) unpopular; he's very unpopular,' Miller said.
It's a tricky relationship, Miller said Cameron may need to lean on for fundraising, and also one Cameron's potential challengers are likely to seize on. Lexington businessman Nate Morris reposted Cameron's video with a picture parodying a movie poster for 'The Manchurian Candidate,' implying Cameron is McConnell's handpicked successor. Miller considers the wealthy outsider a possible wild card to the developing primary.
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'Because he doesn't have the personal relationship that Daniel Cameron does with Leader McConnell, because he doesn't have the long-term political alliance that Andy Barr does,' Miller said.
Congressman Andy Barr is a third possible name in the mix, who Miller said would also have good name recognition in central Kentucky and can lean on a powerful fundraising machine that already has a $2,000,000 head start.
'He is both a prodigious fundraiser and has a platform from which he can raise significant money, being a senior member of the House Financial Services Committee,' Miller said.
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Barr didn't give any additional speculation over the weekend over his interest after offering a critical statement of Cameron's record when Cameron announced his Senate campaign last week.
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