5 highlights from Tuesday's primary races
4. Trump-backed candidate to replace Mitch McConnell wins primary
With longtime Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., retiring after more than four decades in the U.S. Senate — including about half that time serving as the chamber’s top Republican — both parties have selected nominees to compete for the open seat.
Republican Andy Barr will face off against Democrat Charles Booker in the state’s U.S. Senate race this fall. Both candidates won outright because Kentucky law does not require a runoff if no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote.
Barr was backed by Trump ahead of Tuesday’s primary. Barr is expected to prevail in the general election because Kentucky remains a reliably Republican state at the federal level. In the 2024 presidential election, Trump carried the state by more than 30 percentage points.
As Trump touted on Truth Social on Wednesday, candidates backed by the president performed well in Tuesday’s primary elections. All 37 candidates endorsed by Trump either won outright or advanced to a runoff.
Trump endorsed 10 candidates in Pennsylvania, nine in Georgia, six each in Alabama and Kentucky, five in Idaho and one in Oregon.
Unlike many states that held primaries Tuesday, Kentucky does not hold a gubernatorial election this year. Kentucky conducts gubernatorial elections in odd-numbered years preceding presidential elections.
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com
