Kentucky U.S. Rep. Andy Barr secures another term in Congress
Incumbent Republican Congressman Andy Barr has secured his sixth term in office representing Kentucky’s 6th Congressional District, according to the Associated Press.
Barr bested unconventional Democratic opponents to win the seat: Geoff Young, a perennial candidate with a litigious streak and a decidedly pro-Russia, pro-China stance on foreign policy; and Randy Cravens, a write-in candidate backed by the state Democratic Party.
“Thank you, fellow Kentuckians, for sharing that spirit with me every day, for pushing me to advance these — our — values in Washington and for inspiring me to fight for you and your families in the United States House of Representatives,” Barr said in his victory speech Tuesday night.
Kentucky’s congressional Republicans had a good night, with all five incumbent GOP House members retaining their seats and U.S. Sen. Rand Paul securing a third term in office.
Speaking to the Herald-Leader just before 10:30 p.m., Young said he didn’t “see any statistical way I can catch up.”
“I am conceding to Mr. Barr,” he said.
Young said he did not yet know if he would run for office again.
Young was no stranger to the campaign trail. In the last decade, he’s run for the 6th District seat four times before — he even ran as a Republican against Barr in 2020 — and has run twice for governor and once for state house. This May marked the first time Young won a primary, narrowly defeating Chris Preece by 1,715 votes. Young won 15 of the 16 counties in the district; only Fayette opted for Preece.
Barr, who first took office in 2013, has, like many Republicans, aligned himself with former President Donald Trump in recent years. Trump appeared at a rally for Barr at Eastern Kentucky University in 2018, when Barr was facing a tough re-election battle against Democrat Amy McGrath.
Cravens, the write-in candidate, was spurred in to politics by the Uvalde, Texas, elementary school massacre earlier this year, and ran a campaign based on mainstream Democratic policies. Though not the party’s official nominee, Kentucky Democratic Party officials urged support of Cravens over Young.
In a previous statement, KDP Executive Director Sebastian Kitchen said the party wanted to support candidates “who share our values and lift up our party instead of furthering conspiracy theories, suing the party countless times taking resources away from other candidates and who spend more time praising our leaders and democracy rather than idolizing dictators.”
This story was originally published November 8, 2022 at 8:23 PM.
