A Kentucky racehorse trainer has joined the heated political race for the state’s open U.S. Senate seat, saying he’s not beholden to the Democratic Party or Republican President Donald Trump.
Dale Romans, a longtime Louisville trainer who has had numerous horses start the Kentucky Derby, announced his candidacy Wednesday morning. A press release from his campaign said he was joining the race “to stand up for working people across the state and fix the challenges facing our country like harmful tariffs and dangerous health care cuts – instead of waging exhausting partisan fights that get us nowhere and only divide the nation.”
A campaign video from Romans focuses on his horse training experience and his relationship with his family.
“I’ve been in Kentucky my entire life, and I think I know what Kentucky needs in Washington — an independent Democrat that can go to Washington, D.C., and vote for what’s right for the people of Kentucky,” Romans says in the video.
Romans argues in the video that he would be someone not beholden to the Democratic Party and not a “puppet” for President Donald Trump, like a “Republican freshman senator would have to be.”
Romans joins a crowded field of U.S. Senate candidates hoping to succeed longtime Republican U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell who is not seeking reelection in 2026. Other Democrats who have announced campaigns include former Marine fighter pilot Amy McGrath, former Secret Service agent Logan Forsythe, former CIA officer Joel Willett, and Kentucky House Democratic Floor Leader Pamela Stevenson.
GOP candidates have a fiery primary ahead of them as U.S. Rep. Andy Barr, former Attorney General Daniel Cameron, and businessman Nate Morris have campaigned for their party’s nomination throughout 2025.
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Written by McKenna Horsley. Cross-posted from the Kentucky Lantern.
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