‘We cannot let crazy win,’ Rep. Andy Barr says at KY GOP’s Lincoln Dinner
Republican Congressman Andy Barr, who hopes to defeat Louisville Democrat Charles Booker in the race to replace retiring U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell this fall, said Saturday night that “this is a contest between Kentucky common sense and crazy.”
“We cannot let crazy win,” Barr said at the Republican Party of Kentucky’s Lincoln Dinner in Lexington.
Barr described Booker as “the Mamdani of Kentucky,” a reference to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who is a democratic socialist.
“Today in America, freedom is under attack. A growing powerful, left wing, woke, socialist and crazy ideology is on the march,” Barr told those in attendance. “If we let it, it will come to Kentucky. And, my fellow Republicans, I will not let it.”
Nearly 1,000 Kentucky GOP members — including top statewide officeholders, members of the General Assembly, party leaders and local elected officials — attended the event, which was held at the Central Bank Center in downtown Lexington for the second year in a row.
General admission tickets to the dinner sold for $105.
In addition to Barr, attendees heard from several other candidates, including Ed Gallrein, who defeated Rep. Thomas Massie in the primary for the 4th Congressional District, Ralph Alvarado, the Republican nominee for Barr’s 6th Congressional District seat, and Maria Rodriguez, a nurse who is challenging Louisville Democratic incumbent Rep. Morgan McGarvey for his 3rd District seat.
Rodriguez, who said she grew up in Cuba and came to the United States as a “legal immigrant” as a young adult, was one of several speakers who mentioned socialism as a threat.
“As someone who grew up on the socialist system, I believe America must reject socialism and continue to embrace the free market principles that have created more opportunity, innovation and prosperity than any system in human history,” she said.
“I know what it’s like to live without freedom, and I never want America to travel down that path. I have seen firsthand what happens when the government controls too much and faith is pushed aside. That experience in Cuba did not just make me angry, it made me grateful, grateful for this nation, grateful for the opportunity this provides and grateful for the freedoms we enjoy, and I am determined to protect.”
Unity among party members was another common theme during the event, which followed what was a tense primary election season for some.
Kentucky GOP Chairman Robert Benvenuti admonished anyone with “old wounds” to let them heal Saturday night.
“We’ll hug it out. Everything will be great,” he told attendees. “We can’t have any infighting if we’re going to be successful in the fall.”
Gallrein also mentioned the need to “work as a team to elect committed conservative Republicans up and down the ballot.”
And he said the party should work to grow its numbers in “communities that don’t traditionally support the Republican party.”
He said that can be accomplished "by demonstrating how we stand for what’s best for them and their families and our commonwealth and our nation.
“The Republican Party platform is one of opportunity, prosperity and personal liberties built on faith, family and freedom,” Gallrein said. “Accordingly, we should not be afraid to stand up for our beliefs and our values, whether it’s against the mainstream media or the radical Democrats, and offer that bright future to others.”
There were plenty of barbs thrown at Democrats, including multiple references to gender ideology.
“This is basically our family reunion, as Republicans, conservatives and people with common sense,” Agriculture Commissioner Jonathan Shell, who acted as master of ceremonies, told attendees.
Except at family reunions, Shell said, there’s usually “that crazy cousin or uncle” at the family reunion. “I think the Democrats are actually having a meeting to figure out how many genders there are,” he said.
Benvenuti said McConnell, who was hospitalized last Sunday, was sorry he could not be in attendance but “is doing well.”
Barr told reporters after the event that he’d exchanged text messages with McConnell, who has since been released from the hospital.
“He’s good,” he said.
