LEXINGTON, KY. — U.S. Representative Andy Barr and former Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron are competing for the Republican nomination in Tuesday's primary election to replace retiring Senator Mitch McConnell. Both candidates have ties to McConnell, with Barr having interned under the senator and Cameron having served as his legal counsel.

McConnell's office said he has brought more than $65 billion in funding back to Kentucky. In one of their final forums before the primary, Cameron and Barr offered complimentary remarks about the senator.

"A lot of dollars in resources have been secured here because of Sen. McConnell and we need somebody in Washington that's going to maintain the responsibility," Cameron said. Barr said at the same forum that he was his "own man" and that "It's really important that Kentucky continues to do as Sen. McConnell said, to punch above its weight."

At a public library event, Barr sought to define his political identity apart from the state's two senators. "People have asked me, are you a Mitch McConnell Republican or are you a Rand Paul Republican? I am neither, I am an Andy Barr Republican," he said.

Cameron has at times drawn sharper contrasts with the retiring senator. "McConnell was flat out wrong for opposing Hegseth, Kennedy and Gabbard as director of national intelligence," he said. Speaking after a Lincoln Day Dinner in Covington, Cameron said, "If you talk to people, they acknowledge this is a change election and are ready for someone else to serve in that seat, but they also don't want you to kick a man when he's on the way out. Call it the kindness or courteous nature of Kentuckians."

Stephen Voss, a political scientist at the University of Kentucky, said, "McConnell's people are realistic enough to understand that the candidates need to distance themselves from McConnell, but that's different than openly disrespecting or attacking him." Former President Donald Trump endorsed Barr at the beginning of the month. Trump also offered Nate Morris an unspecified ambassadorship, after which Morris withdrew from the Senate primary. A campaign consultant for Cameron said following the endorsement, "Congrats to Mitch McConnell for getting his guy."