KY Politics Insider: Rogers endorsed by opponent’s mentor & Rand Paul on Rogan
For better or worse, money matters quite a bit in American politics.
It could shape the race to replace Sen. Mitch McConnell this year. Campaigns for two of the three leading Republicans have released their fundraising numbers early, both to the conservative-leaning New York Post.
The results weren’t too surprising. Central Kentucky Rep. Andy Barr continues to lead the money race, sitting on more than $6.2 million in cash on hand. He raised almost $1.4 million in the final quarter of the year, from Sep. 30 to Dec. 31.
Lexington tech entrepreneur Nate Morris continued to raise a large amount of money. He brought in $2 million during the final quarter, about $1.4 million of that coming from his own pocketbook; Morris founded the waste and tech company Rubicon and made $41 million in just one year there.
Daniel Cameron, the former attorney general who has led in the publicly available polls but trailed behind in the fundraising game, has not released his numbers as of Tuesday evening.
Typically, the full breakdown of funds raised into campaigns and political action committees, and where those funds are coming from, in the final quarter of the year become publicly available in the middle of January.
Rogers gets endorsement from opponents’ mentor
Kevin Smith, a Kentucky Republican with a bona fide political resume, became the biggest story of the election filing deadline when he launched a primary campaign against Rep. Hal Rogers, 88, the longest continuously-serving member of the U.S. House.
The biggest piece of Smith’s resume in Kentucky GOP politics was his time working closely with Mike Duncan, a Martin County banker who chaired the Republican National Committee in the late ‘00s and led the United States Postal Service during President Donald Trump’s first administration.
On Tuesday, Duncan released a statement to the Herald-Leader making it clear he’s backing Rogers. He wrote that Rogers had his “unwavering support and full endorsement.”
“Congressman Hal Rogers is a personal friend going back to my days in College Republicans, and it’s been a privilege to support him throughout his remarkable career. Hal continues to work tirelessly for the betterment of Eastern Kentucky, the Commonwealth, and the entire country. Simply put, we have no stronger champion in Washington,” Duncan wrote.
Smith was a longtime aide for Duncan, and worked briefly as an aide to McConnell, who has also endorsed Rogers. A native of Clay County, he has worked as an attorney in London for several years. He was part of Kentucky’s delegation to the Republican National Committee in 2024, 2020, 2016 and 2012.
Smith did not respond to a request for comment on Duncan’s endorsement Tuesday.
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Rand on Rogan
Sen. Rand Paul appeared on one of the most popular podcasts in the country Tuesday, sitting down with Joe Rogan for two hours and 43 minutes.
The pair, aligned on vaccine skepticism and enmity towards former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci, spoke at length about Paul’s attempts to punish Fauci.
They also criticized Trump in a couple distinct ways.
Rogan, who is credited with boosting Trump and Vance in the lead-up to the 2024 election, offered a stark assessment of how many Americans view Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in the wake of an officer shooting and killing Renee Good in Minnesota. He said many people see the officers as “murderous, military people.”
“Are we really going to be the Gestapo? ‘Where’s your papers?’ Is that what we’ve come to” Rogan asked.
In their discussion of the Trump administration’s recent decision to extract Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on drug and gun charges, killing several Venezuelans in the process, Paul offered scathing criticism.
He called the gun charges “nothing,” and cast the administration’s narrative on fentanyl coming from Venezuela as a sham pretext for regime change, recalling a back-and-forth between himself and a journalist.
“She said, ‘Well, don’t you care about the kids in our country dying from fentanyl?’ I said ‘Of course, I do, but you know no fentanyl comes from Venezuela. Not a little bit. Zero,’” Paul said.
Paul was not the only Kentucky conservative talking to a high-profile web content creator.
In a move that might surprise some, conservative commentator and Kentuckian Scott Jennings will appear on The Adam Friedland Show, a freewheeling left-of-center internet talk show. The episode is set to release Wednesday.
One on one
It seems like the other Republicans running in the 4th Congressional District have heeded Trump’s words.
After the president posted to social media asking Republicans to clear the field for Ed Gallrein, the candidate he’s endorsed in a bid to unseat Massie, Robert Wells withdrew from the race Monday.
That leaves just Gallrein and Massie.
“I had two opponents in my primary. The BULLIES who leach off Trump chased one of my opponents out of the race TODAY. They’re worried and hope this will improve the chances of their swamp candidate, and it could,” Massie wrote in a post to X soliciting donations.
Wells did not respond to a request for comment.
