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EXCLUSIVE: Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky., said he is the only Senate candidate in Kentucky with the “America First” record and experience necessary to keep the state’s open Senate seat red as Sen. Mitch McConnell’s 40-year tenure comes to an end.
After serving seven terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, Barr is running to replace McConnell in the Senate, as the former party leader retires next year. With Amy McGrath announcing her campaign for the Democratic nomination this week, Barr is also gearing up for a potential rematch.
“I relish the opportunity of a rematch, especially statewide, where the electorate is far more conservative than the swing district where I have represented the last seven terms,” Barr told Fox News Digital.
McGrath unsuccessfully challenged Barr for Kentucky’s 6th Congressional District in 2018. She later lost to McConnell when she ran for his Senate seat in 2020.
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Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky., smiles during a House Financial Services Committee hearing in Washington on Nov. 20, 2024. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“She’s a proven loser,” Barr said. “She has lit Democrat donor money on fire twice, and I’ve even seen Democrats lament the fact that she’s retreading her old messages. She is a stale candidate, and I think there’s a fatigue factor with Amy McGrath.”
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Despite the criticism, Barr admitted that McGrath is the “darling of the far, extreme left” with a unique fundraising record, so it would not surprise him if Democrats nominated her to run for the open Senate seat.
“I’m the only candidate in this U.S. Senate race who has a proven record of defeating Amy McGrath and her fundraising in the one swing, purple district. If you want to block her path, if you want to defeat Democrats in Kentucky, nominate the guy who has a proven record of defeating Amy McGrath,” Barr said.
Barr defeated McGrath by just over three percentage points in 2018, despite the former Marine fighter pilot reportedly raising nearly twice as much money as him.
Amy McGrath onstage during the 2022 Concordia Lexington Summit at the Lexington Marriott City Center on April 7, 2022, in Lexington, Kentucky. (Jon Cherry/Getty Images for Concordia)
Barr described himself as an “America First, pro-Trump Republican member of Congress,” who values limited government, free enterprise and strong national defense. Barr told Fox News Digital that he is the only candidate in the race with experience delivering on President Donald Trump’s agenda.
Former Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron and businessman Nate Morris are among those vying for the Republican nomination for Kentucky’s open Senate seat.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., takes a question from a reporter during a news conference following the weekly Senate Republican policy luncheon at the U.S. Capitol on Nov. 19, 2024, in Washington. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
“The Kentucky Republican Party is ascendant in the wake of Senator McConnell’s 40 years in office,” Barr said, telling Fox News Digital that Kentucky’s electorate has shifted to the right since McGrath’s last two races.
“The electorate is even more conservative in Kentucky, more pro-Trump than it was when she ran those first two races, first against me in 2018 and then against Mitch McConnell in 2020. The people of Kentucky have rejected those extreme, far-liberal views,” he said.
Trump won Kentucky by more than 30 points last year. While former Vice President Kamala Harris won Fayette County, which includes Lexington and is part of the 6th Congressional District, by 18 percentage points in 2024, Barr won his re-election by 26 points.
Barr is one of just three House Republicans who won districts that Harris carried in 2024.
“Everyone knows that Daniel Cameron is the frontrunner in this race. You’re essentially lighting your money on fire if you give it to Andy Barr,” Cameron’s campaign fired back when reached for comment, arguing that Cameron is the “America First” candidate.
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And McGrath told Fox News Digital that Kentucky voters are “tired of lifelong politicians like Andy Barr who care more about pleasing Donald Trump than solving real problems here at home.”
“It’s time he spent less energy playing politics and more time delivering for the people he’s supposed to represent,” the Democrat added.
Fox News Digital reached out to Morris’ campaign but did not immediately receive a response.
