Republican North Carolina Sen. Ted Budd is throwing his support behind Republican Kentucky Rep. Andy Barr in the hotly-contested 2026 GOP primary to succeed Mitch McConnell in the Senate.
Barr is vying for the Republican nomination against businessman Nate Morris and former Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron. In an exclusive statement to the Daily Caller News Foundation, Budd praised Barr for his work in Congress advancing the “America First agenda” and argued the Kentucky Republican would be a close ally of President Donald Trump if elected to the upper chamber.
“Andy will be a leading conservative with me in the Senate, will fight with us to secure the border, and will support a strong national security for America,” Budd said in a statement. “He stands for our values, is pro-life, pro-second amendment and is leading the fight to get men out of girls’ sports.”
“Kentucky could send no one better than my friend Andy Barr to the U.S. Senate, and I’m with him 100% in this campaign,” Budd added.
In a statement, Barr said he was “honored” to have Budd’s endorsement, adding, “I look forward to working with him to grow our economy and cut wasteful spending, to win the strategic competition with China, and to seal our border once and for all.”
Budd secured the president’s endorsement during his successful 2022 Senate run against Democratic candidate Cheri Beasley and has been a stalwart supporter of the president’s agenda in the upper chamber.
The endorsement comes after Republican Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise and Republican New York Rep. Elise Stefanik also announced they were backing Barr’s candidacy. Outkick host and women’s sports advocate Riley Gaines has also endorsed Barr’s Senate run.
Barr announced a haul of more than $1.4 million during the second fundraising quarter and has $6.1 million in the bank. A pro-Barr super PAC, Keep America Great PAC, raised more than $700,000 during the first six months of the year and announced its first ad campaign of $1.2 million on Wednesday torching Morris.
The ad highlights Morris’ previous donation to former Republican South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley and his decision to sign a diversity and inclusion pledge while CEO of his waste and recycling company.
The primary contest is just among a handful of crowded GOP primaries that Trump has yet to intervene and pick his preferred candidate. All three Senate hopefuls are vying for the president’s endorsement with Barr touting his vote in favor of Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act and landmark cryptocurrency legislation, which the president signed into law in July.
Barr has also pledged to introduce legislation that would codify the president’s executive order prohibiting politicized debanking practices, a term referring to banks targets customers over their political views.
Morris, who is centering his campaign around bashing McConnell, is also touting major endorsements backing his campaign. Republican Sens. Jim Banks of Indiana and Bernie Moreno of Ohio are supporting his Senate run. Turning Point Action founder Charlie Kirk has also endorsed Morris and participated in a campaign rally with the business executive in June.
Cameron, who narrowly lost to Democratic Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear during the state’s 2023 gubernatorial race, has struggled to raise money despite jumping into the race hours after former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s retirement announcement in February.
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