LOUISVILLE — For Daniel Cameron, it’s full steam ahead — even without President Donald Trump’s blessing for his U.S. Senate campaign.
Cameron, surrounded by his family and supporters at the Jefferson County Republican Headquarters on Tuesday, said he doesn’t plan on dropping out of the Republican primary in Kentucky’s U.S. Senate race. He is also launching the “Kentucky First” tour to meet voters across the state ahead of the primary.
“I’m not running to impress Washington. I’m running to represent this great Commonwealth,” Cameron said.
On Friday, Trump announced via Truth Social that he would endorse another candidate in the primary, U.S. Rep. Andy Barr of Kentucky’s 6th Congressional District. The president called the congressman a “Proven Political Winner” and said he was the only candidate in the race “who will easily defeat the Democrat in what will be one of the most important Elections in American History.” Trump won Kentucky’s electoral votes in his three presidential campaigns by large margins.
Moments before the president endorsed Barr on Friday, Trump announced on Truth Social he would appoint Lexington businessman Nate Morris, another GOP primary candidate, to an unspecified ambassadorship role. Morris then dropped out and endorsed Barr.
However, some Morris voters have coalesced around Cameron online, seemingly paving the way for Cameron to get votes from Libertarian Republicans in the May 19 primary.
“Whether you are center right, constitutionally-minded, a traditional Trump conservative, or Liberty-minded, there’s a home for you on Team Cameron, because this race isn’t about Republican versus Democrat. It’s about common sense versus crazy,” Cameron said.
In response to a question from reporters Cameron said there was “irony” in Barr getting the president’s endorsement while having the backing of the “McConnell Machine.” U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, a longtime Republican who currently holds the seat, previously announced he would not seek reelection this year.
Cameron himself had the president’s endorsement in the 2023 governor’s race and served as Sen. Mitch McConnell’s general counsel. He was elected as Kentucky’s attorney general in 2019.
“What I’m focused on is the folks that are behind me and the voters across our 120 counties, and making sure we get across the finish line,” Cameron said.
Another Kentucky Republican, U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie of the 4th Congressional District, is facing his own Trump-endorsed opponent, Ed Gallrein, in the Republican primary there. Asked Monday night if he had talked to Cameron since the president’s endorsement of Barr, Massie said he had “stayed out of the Senate race, but the Senate race hasn’t stayed out of mine.” Barr and Morris endorsed Gallrein in February.
Massie said internal polls he’s seen showed that Cameron “was surprisingly resilient” in the 4th Congressional District despite high spending from Barr and Morris campaigns and the PACs backing them.
“I think what they decided over at the White House was we got to get Nate out of the race or Daniel could beat Andy Barr,” Massie said. “And that’s just my interpretation of what may have happened, but it’s informed by what I saw on our own polling in that race.”
Asked if he was seeking an endorsement from Massie or U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, another Republican who has faced Trump’s ire, Cameron said: “I’m seeking out the endorsement of the Kentucky voter.”
On Monday, Cameron shared a photo online of himself and his wife, Makenze, with Paul and his wife, Kelley, at the Kentucky Derby.
--30--
Written by McKenna Horsley. Cross-posted from the Kentucky Lantern.
Comments
