A Barr-Trump call, another KY Senate poll with Cameron leading & more as 2026 race heats up
Republican President Donald Trump gave updates on several issues of national importance from the U.S. House Speaker’s dais in his address to a joint session of Congress Tuesday night.
But for Kentucky politicos, perhaps the most interesting words of the night came not from Trump but Central Kentucky 6th Congressional District Rep. Andy Barr as he spoke briefly to the president on his way out.
“Great speech,” Barr told Trump as the two shook hands. “Thanks for taking my call.”
The exchange was captured on the public broadcast station C-SPAN.
What that means for Barr’s potential to run for the U.S. Senate is unclear.
Sen. Mitch McConnell is not seeking reelection in 2026. Former attorney general Daniel Cameron has already announced his run, and Barr and Lexington tech mogul Nate Morris are both eyeing bids.
Barr’s camp did not offer any more details on what the call included.
“Congressman Barr’s conversations with President Trump are private, but Congressman Barr is a trusted ally of President Trump and speaks with the Administration regularly to advance the America First agenda, secure our borders, unleash American energy, hold China accountable, and deliver for Kentucky families,” Barr spokesperson Tyler Staker told the Herald-Leader.
New poll of Senate
Meanwhile, a pollster with ties to Cameron released a poll of Kentucky Republicans showing the former AG with a solid lead in a hypothetical race against Barr and Morris. The poll was first released Monday to the online news source Semafor.
The poll of 1,134 likely GOP primary voters conducted on Feb. 25-26 was done by co/efficient, a firm co-founded by Cameron’s general consultant Brandon Moody.
Cameron led with 38.9% of residents saying they would vote for him if the primary were held today. Barr garnered 17.6% support and Morris notched 2.5%.
Just over 30% of respondents said they were undecided.
As of now, and when the poll was conducted, Cameron was the only one to have announced a bid for the open Senate seat. He launched his campaign Feb. 20, just minutes after the 83-year-old McConnell announced that he would not seek reelection.
Cameron has since made several appearances on local and national television; in the latter, he’s focused on conservative-leaning outlets like Fox News and Newsmax. Those showings have provided him with the opportunity to unload on his potential opponents before they even jump in the race.
“What I’ll say about Andy Barr is that he never met a spending bill he didn’t like,” Cameron said on Newsmax.
The former attorney general also highlighted a contribution Morris made to a political action committee affiliated with former GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley in 2021. The contribution was made at a time when Haley was seen as a potential contender for the White House but told media that she would not run if Trump decided to seek the 2024 nomination. They both ended up running and Trump won handily.
Cameron incorrectly stated that the contribution was a “primary contribution” to Haley.
“That should be enough to tell the Kentucky voter that he cannot be trusted to support Donald J. Trump’s America First agenda,” Cameron said.
On the program, Cameron also openly hoped for the support of Trump; he scored the president’s backing early in his landslide 2023 gubernatorial primary win.
Many in Frankfort and Washington believe that Trump’s endorsement would likely prove decisive for whoever gets it. The president has yet to weigh in publicly on the race.
Morris has hewed close to Trump in his statements on the race thus far. In several social media posts, he has lambasted Barr and Cameron for their ties to McConnell, insinuating that they’re “puppets” of the longtime senator.
He repeated that line when he posted a video to social media site X supporting Trump’s stance toward Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the pair’s recent fiery summit at the White House.
“We don’t need more RINOs in DC like Mitch McConnell who bow to Zelenskyy as some sort of false idol,” Morris wrote. “What President Trump and (Vice President JD) Vance did today was give a middle finger to the globalists who desperately want a blank check for Ukraine so they can keep this war going on forever.”
Editor’s Note: In 2021, potential Kentucky Republican candidate for U.S. Senate Nate Morris made a $5,000 contribution to a political action committee affiliated with former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley, who was not an announced candidate for president at the time. A previous version of this story quoted Daniel Cameron stating that Nate Morris made a “primary contribution” to Nikki Haley. That characterization is incorrect.
This story was originally published March 6, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
