Race to replace Mitch McConnell heats up on stage: 3 takeaways from Fancy Farm 2025
Yeah, there were some fireworks.
The annual Fancy Farm political picnic was absent of Democrats in 2025, save for John "Drew" Williams, an enthusiastic West Kentucky native running a longshot bid to unseat U.S. Rep. James Comer, who had plenty of buzz of his own.
But it wasn't absent of drama. After months of potshots before and after they'd officially entered the race, U.S. Rep. Andy Barr, former Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron and Lexington businessman Nate Morris finally had a chance to trade barbs in person, with a raucous crowd cheering and jeering and McConnell joining them on stage.
It was, to sum it up, Fancy Farm. Here's a quick look at some of the highlights.
Morris vs. McConnell — and everyone else
McConnell, a Fancy Farm staple for more than 40 years, stayed above the fray on stage at the picnic. With protesters chanting "ceasefire now," he stuck to his script of ripping former President Joe Biden and Democrats and promoting his ties to President Donald Trump, who he's clashed with at times over the past decade.
But he was more pointed earlier in the day at the Graves County Republican Breakfast. While speaking to audience members, McConnell — whose planned attendance at the weekend event was not announced ahead of time — noted one candidate running to replace him has said they don't want to be like him, a clear reference to Morris.
"I'm wondering how you'd want to be different from the longest-serving Senate leader in U.S. history?" McConnell said.
Morris, who did not join Barr and Cameron in standing and applauding when speakers praised the senator throughout the day, had plenty to say in response. McConnell "helped push lawfare against President Trump," he said after arriving at the event, "blamed January 6 on President Trump' and "wrote blank checks for Ukraine."
"That's how I'm going to be different," he said.
More: Who had the best zingers? Here's a round up from Fancy Farm
Both Cameron and Barr criticized Morris for continuing to sit while McConnell was being recognized, though they took care to draw a line in the sand between their beliefs and those of the incumbent senator. But they weren't shy about coming after each other once they had the mic.
Cameron said Barr "wants you to think he's America First, but it's hard to believe him when he voted with Nancy Pelosi 1,200 times." And Morris "wants you to think he's tough, but when he was asked about his donation in the primary to Nikki Haley over Donald Trump, rather than own up to it, his first thought was to throw his wife under the bus."
In a recent interview with Spectrum TV, Morris said a contribution to Haley's 2024 primary campaign against Trump came after he "got stuck with the bill for a dinner that my wife attended" where Haley spoke.
"Nate, that's not tough talk, that's a night in the doghouse," Cameron told the crowd.
Morris founded the waste management company Rubicon and has used his background as a "trash man" in his campaign, joking that it's time to take out the trash in Washington, D.C. and running an ad that shows him throwing away a McConnell cardboard cutout. He arrived at Fancy Farm in a garbage truck branded with his campaign logo, surrounded by supporters wearing orange vests.
More: Senate candidate Nate Morris says he's 'going to trash McConnell's legacy' at Fancy Farm
But Barr flipped that image in his speech. Morris, he said, "calls himself the trash man, but dumpster fire is more like it," as he once voiced some understanding for racial justice protesters in a 2020 letter to employees and did not rush workers back to in-person work in April 2020 amid the coronavirus pandemic.
"It's been a tough couple of years for Nate," Barr joked. "His company collapsed, Nikki Haley lost the primary, Brooks Brothers stopped making his favorite COVID mask and now Trump is phasing out the penny. How in the world is anyone going to be able to buy Rubicon stock?"
And as he roasted Gov. Andy Beshear, Barr threw in a shot at the governor's opponent in the 2023 gubernatorial campaign, conveniently on stage with him — "You know, I'd say anyone could beat (Beshear), but I wouldn't want to offend Daniel Cameron."
Morris took it a step further.
He took aim at McConnell as "a senior citizen who freezes on national television during his press conferences," equating him with Biden in age and demeanor, and said his presence alongside Barr and Cameron felt like "bring your boys to work day."
Barr is "a fully owned subsidiary of Mitch McConnell," he added, and Cameron "managed to choke like a dog and lose the general election to Andy Beshear and our commonwealth in a state that Trump won by 30 points."
Morris took by far the most boos from the crowd, a far cry from the warm reception he received at his campaign's opening rally alongside conservative commentator Charlie Kirk. McConnell spoke early in the event and had left the stage by the time the three Senate candidates spoke.
But Morris had a vocal set of supporters as well, including state Rep. John Hodgson, R-Fisherville, who donned an orange vest like the rest of his backers. He's friends with Cameron and Barr too, Hodgson said, but he's "always supported candidates that are outsiders. Disrupters break up the status quo."
One Democrat speaks up
Beshear was nowhere to be seen, due to a "scheduling conflict" that was the butt of plenty of jokes.
Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman made an appearance at the Democrats' annual bean supper dinner the night before the Aug. 2 picnic but did not speak or attend the event the following day. And state Rep. Pamela Stevenson, a Louisville Democrat who's currently the frontrunner for the party's nomination for Senate, didn't show either.
Instead, it was Williams — a 32-year-old dock builder who's proud to tell you he's helped revitalize his hometown of Benton's annual Tater Day celebration — left to take the stage alone.
Some credit is due. The boos and the sea of "Comer for Congress" signs he faced didn't stop him. He told The Courier Journal he's in the race to "bring people back to the table, make sure that people are heard and their voices and concerns are heard."
"These spaces need us here and need our voices, and we're never going to get that unless we show up and we're in," Williams said.
Still, you could tell he was outnumbered. Comer shook his hand before they both spoke but later joked he didn't know his opponent's name and presented him with a mock endorsement from President Joe Biden "signed by the autopen" as a show of good sportsmanship because "we know Andy Beshear won't endorse him ... and I'm pretty confident that no national leaders will come campaign for him."
In 2025, Fancy Farm is a Republican show. State Rep. Michael Meredith, R-Oakland, noted that hasn't always been the case in his 14 years in office and more that two decades of attending the event.
"This year was probably the most stark contrast we've seen," Meredith said after the speeches. "When I first started coming 21 years ago, the very first time I was here, it was probably two-thirds Democrat and a third Republican. Republicans have just had electoral success, they've had success in changing party registrations in this part of the state, and it's like after years of dominance, the Democrats have decided because they're not dominant anymore (then) it's irrelevant."
Comer, Coleman and the governor's race
He's not on the ballot yet. But Comer is already getting plenty of buzz ahead of the 2027 gubernatorial race, where a term-limited Beshear will not be on the ballot and Republicans have a strong chance to take back the governor's mansion.
Agriculture Commissioner Johnathan Shell openly told the crowd "Governor Comer" has a nice ring to it. And the congressman, who's running for reelection in 2026, did the opposite of shutting down speculation.
"The governor's race is two years away. I don't think it's any secret I'm very interested in that," he told reporters after speeches ended. "... I'm getting a lot of encouragement from people all over Kentucky, so it's something that we're looking very seriously at, but it's going to be another year before that decision."
He has an idea of who he may face in the general election if he enters the race and advances through the primary — Coleman, Beshear's lieutenant governor. She has not said what she plans to do after her time in her current role ends.
Rocky Adkins, a former candidate and special advisor to Beshear, has also been mentioned as a potential candidate. But Comer said he doesn't believe voters in Louisville and Lexington will line up to back Adkins due to his previous support for some anti-abortion legislation and other stances more in line with conservative voters.
"Right now, Jackie Coleman's the overwhelming favorite to be the Democrat nominee for governor," Comer predicted.
Reach Lucas Aulbach at laulbach@courier-journal.com.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Fancy Farm takeaways: Mitch McConnell, James Comer, other highlights
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