U.S. Senate GOP finances: Cameron lags, Barr has billionaire backers, Musk looms
Rep. Andy Barr solidified his lead in the fundraising race for the GOP nomination to U.S. Senate, and former attorney general Daniel Cameron continues to lag well behind the competition, according to records from the final fundraising quarter of 2025.
Lexington tech entrepreneur Nate Morris continued to rely on his own pocketbook in the final three months of 2025, loaning more than $1.4 million into his campaign.
Barr is leading the Republican primary cash-on-hand race by a sizable margin: He had $6.47 million on hand, while Morris claimed $1.42 million and Cameron had $630,000 as of Dec. 31.
Both Barr and Morris added some of the biggest names in business to their donor list over that period.
Meanwhile, political action committees supporting Barr and Morris hauled in $3.6 million and half-a-million, respectively, during the recent quarter. Barr got big boosts from so-called “dark money” groups, whose donors are anonymous, and the cryptocurrency industry.
Cameron’s fundraising has fallen well behind the competition vying to replace Sen. Mitch McConnell at every reporting period. The last three months have been no exception.
The former AG raised $300,000 in that time and spent the same amount, leaving him with less than a tenth of what Barr had at the end of the reporting period. Cameron is not a self-funder like Morris, either; the businessman could likely cut himself more checks.
In a statement from Cameron’s campaign manager, Nathanael Hirt, the candidate leaned on the fact that he’s been leading all publicly available polls.
“We will have the resources to win because we’re already winning. Poll after poll shows Daniel Cameron is the best-known and most well-liked candidate in this race, across every type of voter. While others talk about potential, we’re living in the reality of winning,” Hirt wrote.
Cameron put it more bluntly when asked about it at his filing event in early January, calling back to his 2023 primary where he was significantly outspent.
“You know, money doesn’t vote,” Cameron said.
Outside spending for Cameron has also been relatively underwhelming so far. Kentucky First Political Action, the only known PAC supporting Cameron, brought in $163,000 and ended the period with $96,000.
One big wrinkle in this discussion is the announcement earlier this year that Elon Musk, famed entrepreneur and the wealthiest man in the world, gave $10 million to Fight for Kentucky PAC, which is supporting Morris. Because the donation was made in January, it does not yet appear on a publicly available report.
Michael Faris, a candidate who lacks statewide name ID but has built some grassroots support, ended the period not having raised significant money and with a negative cash-on-hand figure.
Barr campaign & PAC
When it comes to the official campaign, Barr continued to clearly lead the pack. He got help from some of Wall Street and Silicon Valley’s biggest stars.
Here’s a rundown of who helped pad Barr’s fundraising lead. Though donors can give campaigns a maximum of $7,000, only half of that, $3,500, can be used during the primary election.
- Marc Andreessen, a prominent billionaire venture capitalist and early supporter of President Donald Trump in tech circles, and his wife Laura. $3,500 each
- Jamie Dimon, billionaire and longtime CEO of JPMorgan Chase. $3,500
- Ben Horowitz, Andreessen’s partner in their Andreessen Horowitz firm, and his wife Felicia. $3,500 each
- Charles Schwab, billionaire founder of the eponymous financial services firm. $3,500
- Blake Brickman, chief of staff for former governor Matt Bevin. $3,500
- Heath Tarbert, former chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. $3,500
- Kara Calvert Campbell, top lobbyist for cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase. $3,500
- Ronald O’Hanley, CEO and chairman of financial services behemoth State Street. $3,500
- John Philip Sousa, IV, great-grandson of famous American composer. $3,500
Keep America Great PAC, which is supporting Barr, was the most active of any outside spending group. It raised almost $3.7 million and spent a little more than that in the final three months of 2025. It has aired commercials critical of Morris and ads that pair Barr closely with Trump.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given Barr’s longtime position on the House Financial Services Committee, many of the key donors have a Wall Street background.
Here’s a list of the major donors to Keep America Great PAC:
- Foris Dax Inc., the parent company for cryptocurrency exchange crypto.com. $1,343,130
- Defend US Inc., conservative dark money group. $1,070,000
- Conservative Agenda for America, a dark money group that changed its name from “Protect Women Ohio,” an anti-abortion group, and is connected with conservative megadonors Dick Uihlien and Leonard Leo. $285,000
- Friends of Andy Barr, an outside group supporting Barr’s political career since his congressional runs. $157,354
- Chance Aluminum Corp., a Pennsylvania metals company. $150,000
- Churchill Downs. $100,000
- Tamara Gustavson, billionaire storage magnate and Lexington area resident. $100,000
- Joe Cecala, CEO of Dream Exchange, a company that recently lost its bid with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to become a stock exchange. $75,000
- Bilt Technologies, new credit-card company targeting mortgages and rent payments. $50,000
Morris’ campaign and PAC
Morris’ finances are harder to predict than Barr’s.
With the ability to fundraise from his own wallet — he’s now loaned his campaign more than $4.4 million total — Morris could theoretically reload his campaign coffers at any time, if he’s willing to part with the money.
Morris also has wealthy friends, Musk being “exhibit A.” But there’s also the question of popular “tech right” billionaire Peter Thiel, a former partner of Musk’s and founder of the data and defense giant Palantir. Morris counts Thiel, who bankrolled his friend Vice President JD Vance’s political start, as a friend as well.
Even thought Morris has mostly self-funded, he’s raised more ($527,000) from outside sources than Cameron. Here are some notable names who contributed to the Morris campaign:
- Joe Barrata, billionaire leader of Blackstone private equity firm. $3,500
- Eric Deters, former GOP gubernatorial candidate. $3,500
- Cary Katz, famous poker player and businessman. $7,000
- Mitzy McCorvey, National Rifle Association board member. $3,500
Fight for Kentucky PAC, the group that Musk donated $10 million towards, did not see a similar burst of funding in the final quarter of 2025.
It was, however, largely bankrolled by one key Trump donor: Konstantin Sokolov.
Sokolov gave the PAC $500,000 of its $525,000 total over the quarter. He is a private equity investor who was one of the key donors for Trump’s privately-funded ballroom expansion to the White House and has given Republicans millions headed into the midterm elections.
Cameron’s numbers
Cameron’s campaign received several individual donations, but very few of them were high-dollar figures.
One max donation came from the family of former Tennessee congresswoman Diane Black. She and her husband, David, donated an amount equaling $3,500. Kentucky law enforcement stalwart Jeremy Murrell, now a deputy commissioner under current Attorney General Russell Coleman, donated $3,500.
Kentucky First Political Action, the lone PAC known to be supporting Cameron, raised $163,000 and ended the period with $96,000.
Shepherdsville vehicle titling company All State Title Service gave the group $50,000. Kiki Courtelis, Georgetown horse farm owner and prominent state GOP donor, also gave the group $50,000. The organization got $35,000 from Louisville storage tank company executive Bernard Fineman and $25,000 from Paducah dermatologist Joseph Blackmon.
In the past, groups tied to Jeff Yass, a Pennsylvania billionaire with ties to Sen. Rand Paul, have buoyed Cameron. There is no sign as of yet that those groups are supporting Cameron.
