West Kentucky Star

Senate race heats up at Fancy Farm

The race for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by the retiring Mitch McConnell began to heat up at Fancy Farm on Saturday.

The annual fundraiser for St. Jerome’s Catholic Church in Graves County served as the backdrop, and the first time to see Sixth District Congressman Andy Barr, the Republican, and former legislator Charles Booker, the Democrat, in the same place. The two exchanged barbs, while setting the tone for the stretch run to the general election and completely ignoring the Kentucky Party candidate, Christopher Campbell. In fact, an oversight by emcee Dave Baker meant Campbell almost got left out.

Barr took to the podium first. Barr said he is “so Kentucky” that “his laptop runs on coal, tobacco is a vegetable, and Ale-8-One should be in the school lunch program.” Barr broke some news with the media on Friday night at the Marshall County Republican “Night Before Fancy Farm” dinner, saying that he had spoken with Senator McConnell while en route to western Kentucky. He stated it before the Fancy Farm crowd on Saturday, as well, to the jeers of the Democrats in attendance. Barr said they spoke about McConnell’s fond memories of attending the annual picnic. Barr took a few shots at Governor Andy Beshear, including about his reported lack of knowledge about the $100 billion development in McCracken County. Barr said, “Whoa, and I thought Joe Biden was sleepy.”

Barr turned his attention to Booker, saying he is the perfect candidate for the Democrats, whom he called out of touch with Kentucky. He tried to connect Booker to the socialist movement in the national Democratic Party, noting his endorsements from Representative Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez and Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. Barr said, “socialism is as popular in Kentucky as Christian Laettner.” He was in the process of pivoting back to say he would fight for Kentucky when his time expired.

Booker spoke next, thanking God for the opportunity to stand on the Fancy Farm stage and promising those who booed him that he would fight for them to have high-quality healthcare. Booker acknowledged Rand Paul for being there, accusing him of being too scared to face him during his previous attempt at the Senate. Paul’s wife, Kelley, spoke on his behalf that year because he got stuck in Washington on Senate business. Booker said Paul would work with him, though, if he gets to the Senate, saying they share a desire to stop what he called “endless wars.” Booker said his last appearance at Fancy Farm was in 2022 after the floods in eastern Kentucky and the tornado that tore through Graves County. He said the response to those disasters wasn’t about politics, but rather helping Kentuckians. He said he was ready to roll up his sleeves and go to work, “because that’s what family does.” Booker said Kentucky is still fighting storms, referring to rising costs, war, and Elon Musk, whom he called a robber-baron. He claimed Musk is trying to force data centers on communities without their consent.

All four Democrats who spoke at the event ignored the project announced on Wednesday.

Booker said that at the center of problems in Washington have been McConnell and Barr. He called Barr a failure, a fraud, and a charlatan. He tried to paint him as a weak version of McConnell and a bootleg version of President Trump. Booker looked to turn the tables and call Barr the radical in the race. He said Democrats would replace McConnell by retiring his puppet, Barr, before switching to a call for transparency about McConnell’s health. He accused Barr of being silent on the issue, even after Barr said he spoke to McConnell on Friday.

Booker returned to a theme of fighting for Kentuckians, asking for support for his agenda to stop the status quo and fight for affordability. He called for standing with Booker and giving Barr the boot.

Then, Campbell finally got to step to the mic after some confusion. This was the Richmond native’s first appearance at the picnic, and he opened by thanking the organizers for the opportunity to speak. Campbell compared his opponents and other elected officials to Pharisees, as in the story of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector, in which the Pharisee envisions himself as more righteous than the others in the temple. The Tax Collector humbles himself and, by virtue, becomes right with God. He used that analogy to paint himself as a regular Kentuckian, saying that the other elected officials are rich people being directed by other rich people, meaning they don’t represent the people.

Campbell accused Barr of representing everything from arms dealers to Donald Trump, before saying Booker is morally compromised because Democrats have sold out to Israel. He accused Booker and Barr of being the same. Campbell decried the $100 billion project in Paducah, threatening that it will cause utility rates to rise despite the facility's plan to generate its own power. He said he should call Booker and Barr, Schumer and McConnell, but didn’t want to “speak ill of the dead.” This was about the point where the assembled from both parties turned on him, even as he tried to say he was here to work for them and against special interests. He thanked the 7,000 people who signed his petition to get on the ballot as he concluded.

All three will appear on the ballot on November 3rd.

Stories highlighting the race for Kentucky Governor, along with the remarks from the state’s Constitutional Officers, will follow on West Kentucky Star. Also, more discussion of the events at Fancy Farm Monday morning on the Greg Dunker Show on SuperTalk 94.3 WKYX.

Booker photo courtesy of his Facebook page

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