Former Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron announced on Thursday that he is jumping into the race for the Senate seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.
"Kentucky, it's time for a new generation of leadership in the U.S. Senate," he wrote on social platform X. "Let's do this."
Cameron's announcement came minutes after McConnell said Thursday morning that he would not run for reelection after seven terms in office. McConnell has held his Senate seat since 1984 and served as the chamber leader for the GOP from 2007 through 2024.
According to the Courier Journal, Cameron, who was Kentucky's first Black attorney general, has strong connections to McConnell, serving as his legal counsel for roughly two years before he won the attorney general's race in 2019.
As attorney general, he frequently opposed Democrat Gov. Andy Beshear, who defeated Cameron in the 2023 governor's race. It was the only statewide office the GOP did not win.
During his first year as attorney general, Cameron became embroiled in controversy when his office declined to indict two of three officers who fired their weapons during the raid of Breonna Taylor's apartment and charged another officer with wanton endangerment over bullets that entered an adjacent apartment, the Courier Journal reported.
Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman, was fatally shot by Louisville Metro Police during an early morning drug raid in March 2020. No illicit substances were found.
Allegations of mishandling the case were made against Cameron, and audio used in a Saturday Night Live musical performance in October 2020 accused him of letting down his fellow Black Americans. A firestorm of local and national criticism, including death threats, caused Cameron to hire armed personal security.
Cameron has said that Taylor's death was a tragedy but maintains his office handled the case appropriately.
Politico reported that Cameron is expected to face a challenge for the Republican nomination from Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky., and businessman Nate Morris.
Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
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