Andy Barr

Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky., won the Republican primary for Kentucky's U.S. Senate seat, which opened when Sen. Mitch McConnell decided not to seek an eighth term.

Newsmax and Decision Desk HQ called the race for Barr, who was endorsed by President Donald Trump, about an hour after polls closed.

With 34% of votes counted, Barr had 59.8%, followed by former state Attorney General Daniel Cameron at 31.9%, and nine other candidates.

Barr will be the heavy favorite to succeed McConnell in a state Trump won by nearly 31 percentage points in the 2024 election. McConnell, 84, was the GOP Senate leader from 2007 to 2025, the longest tenure for any party leader in the upper chamber's history.

Barr would have faced entrepreneur Nate Morris, who was endorsed by Donald Trump Jr. and received financial support from Elon Musk. In a Truth Social post shortly before endorsing Barr, the president said he had asked Morris to "step aside" from the race to join his administration as an ambassador.

"Nate is a terrific businessman and strong MAGA Warrior," Trump wrote, adding that he will announce Morris' specific role soon.

Shortly afterward, Morris posted on X that he was proud to join the Trump administration and, in another post, endorsed Barr.

The Democrat field in Kentucky includes former state lawmaker Charles Booker and former Marine pilot Amy McGrath. Booker narrowly defeated McGrath in the 2020 Democratic primary before losing to McConnell in the general election. Democrats have not won a U.S. Senate race in Kentucky since 1992.