Daniel Cameron announces Senate campaign minutes after Mitch McConnell said he wouldn't seek 8th term
McConnell announces he won't run for re-election
Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Thursday that the former Republican leader will not run for re-election in 2026.
Former Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron on Thursday announced that he is running to replace Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., in the upper chamber of Congress.
Cameron, who was Kentucky's first Black attorney general, announced his Senate campaign just minutes after McConnell said he would not seek re-election in 2026.
"Kentucky, it's time for a new generation of leadership in the U.S. Senate. Let's do this," Cameron wrote on X, sharing a screenshot of himself, his wife and their children seen on the Daniel Cameron U.S. Senate campaign website.
Fox News Digital reached out to Cameron's campaign for comment but did not immediately hear back.
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Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron delivers a live address to the largely virtual 2020 Republican National Convention in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 25, 2020. (Reuters/Jonathan Ernst/File Photo)
A seven-term senator, McConnell announced on his 83rd birthday that he would not seek re-election and would retire at the end of his term. McConnell recently voted against several of President Donald Trump's Cabinet picks: National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. McConnell voted in favor of Kash Patel, whom the Senate confirmed as Trump's FBI director on Thursday.
In a statement obtained by Fox News Digital, National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) Chair Tim Scott, R-S.C., said McConnell has "dedicated his life to public service and the state he loves" and "our country is grateful for his leadership and legacy of confirming conservative judges and justices, and safeguarding the Republican Senate Majority."
"Kentucky is a red state, so the NRSC is confident that our eventual nominee will be a principled, America First conservative who will join our Majority’s fight for our nation’s Golden Era," Scott said.
Cameron has long been groomed to become McConnell's replacement. He unsuccessfully ran for governor in 2023 against two-term Democrat Andy Beshear.
In his first year as attorney general, Cameron handled the investigation into Breonna Taylor's shooting death during a March 2020 Louisville police raid at a time when George Floyd-era protests and riots swept the nation.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., takes a question from a reporter during a news conference following the weekly Senate Republican policy luncheon at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 19, 2024. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
His office ultimately declined to charge two officers who opened fire, but indicted a third on wanton endangerment over bullets that entered a neighbor's apartment. That officer was acquitted in a state trial, but the Justice Department brought federal charges against all three.
SEN MITCH MCCONNELL ANNOUNCES HE WILL NOT RUN FOR RE-ELECTION
Cameron, the current CEO of the 1792 Exchange, a non-profit that aims to hold companies accountable for pushing a "far-left ideology," might face GOP primary competition.
Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky., reiterated Thursday that he is "considering running for Senate because Kentucky deserves a Senator who will fight for President Trump and the America First Agenda."
"I’ve done that every day in the House and would do so in the Senate," Barr said. "I’m encouraged by the outpouring of support and my family and I will be making a decision about our future soon."
Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., is pushed in a wheelchair at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Thursday. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Nate Morris, an entrepreneur serving as chairman and CEO of the Louisville-based Morris Industries, said last week he was still considering a run for McConnell's seat, while slamming other potential candidates waiting for McConnell to back out first.
"If you're asking for a permission slip to run for office here in Kentucky from Mitch McConnell, then you shouldn't be running in the first place," Morris said. "The last thing Kentucky needs is another puppet for Mitch McConnell running for office."
As for Democrats, Beshear's spokesman Eric Hyers said in a post on X that the governor would not be running to fill McConnell's seat.
Democratic state Rep. Pamela Stevenson of Louisville has long been fundraising to run for McConnell's seat, according to the Courier Journal.
Kentucky leans red in federal elections, such as Senate races, but has been more competitive during gubernatorial contests.
Fox News' Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.
Danielle Wallace is a breaking news and politics reporter at Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to
