Major conservative group makes endorsement in Kentucky’s GOP Senate race
An organization that hosts the most prominent conservative conference in the country has made an endorsement in Kentucky’s Republican U.S. Senate primary.
The Conservative Political Action Conference, known as CPAC, announced Saturday that it is backing Lexington tech entrepreneur Nate Morris in the crowded race to replace Sen. Mitch McConnell in this year’s GOP primary. Morris is running against Central Kentucky U.S. Rep. Andy Barr and former Attorney General Daniel Cameron, among others, in the May 19 contest.
Matt Schlapp, the conference’s leader and former White House official under George W. Bush, introduced Morris on stage Saturday. He began with a derogatory reference to McConnell.
“Do you think the Senate should be a turtle-free zone,” Schlapp asked the crowd before Morris walked onto the stage at CPAC, which was held in the Dallas area this year. McConnell announced last year that after more than 40 years in office he would not seek reelection.
Morris participated in CPAC last year as well, before he was a declared candidate for office.
Schlapp briefly interviewed Morris before announcing the endorsement, making a nonsequitur reference to “people with Southern accents” suffering.
“The people are long-suffering. You know, people with Southern accents and all the outward appearances of people that are going to go scrape and fight tend to not. Why are you the person that will get it done in United States Senate?”
Morris responded with many of the leading themes he’s driven home in the race. He emphasized his background as a non-politician, contrasting with his competition.
Schlapp, highlighting Morris’ outsider credentials, asked Morris if he thought his background was “a little like Trump?”
Morris responded “absolutely.”
“I think the country is sick of these career politicians that have been taking advantage of you, the taxpayer, the people that send these folks to Washington. We got to have something totally different,” Morris said.
He threw in a dig at Barr, whom he and political action committees supporting him have called “Amnesty Andy” in an attempt to paint Barr as soft on undocumented immigration.
On stage, Schlapp also endorsed Georgia Republican Rep. Mike Collins for the Peach State’s U.S. Senate seat currently occupied by Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff.
Schlapp has been the subject of controversy in recent years. In 2022, a Republican operative accused him of sexual assault, saying Schlapp fondled and groped him on a ride back from a bar.
After a $480,000 settlement paid to the operative, he wrote that his claims “were the result of a complete misunderstanding.”
Morris is not the only Republican candidate to have received important endorsements.
When it comes to elected officeholders, at the state and federal level, Barr has garnered the most endorsements. More than half of the 219 Republicans in the U.S. House have endorsed him, as well as 11 Kentucky Senate members, and 23 Kentucky House members.
Notably, Barr also got endorsements from newly minted Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin and from 5th Congressional District Rep. Hal Rogers, who has represented his Eastern Kentucky-centered district for 45 years.
“Andy Barr is the true conservative in this race, and his endorsements prove it. Barr has earned over 160 major endorsements — more than all of his Republican and Democrat opponents combined,” Barr spokesperson Alex Bellizzi wrote in a statement.
Cameron has received scores of endorsements from local law enforcement officials who knew him from his previous role as Kentucky’s top cop. He’s got the backing of multiple GOP state legislators in the informal Liberty wing of the Kentucky GOP, who generally align more with 4th Congressional District Rep. Thomas Massie. Massie has not endorsed in the race.
This story has been updated with additional information.
This story was originally published March 30, 2026 at 11:50 AM.
