Kentucky U.S. Senators: McConnell, Paul, and the 2026 Race

Kentucky’s two U.S. senators are both Republicans: Mitch McConnell, who has served since January 1985 and is the longest-serving party leader in Senate history, and Rand Paul, a libertarian-leaning senator who has held office since January 2011. McConnell announced on February 20, 2025, that he will not seek an eighth term, so his seat is on the November 2026 ballot. Paul’s current term runs through January 2029.

Mitch McConnell, Senior Senator

McConnell was first elected in 1984 and took office in January 1985. He served as Senate majority whip from 2003 to 2007, then as Republican leader from 2007 until he stepped down from that post in January 2025, an 18-year run that made him the longest-serving party leader the chamber has ever had.¹ Within that stretch he was majority leader from 2015 to 2021 and minority leader from 2007 to 2015 and again from 2021 to 2025.² Senator John Thune of South Dakota succeeded him as Republican leader.³

Judicial Record

McConnell’s most lasting mark is on the federal courts. During the Trump administration his efforts culminated in the confirmation of three Supreme Court justices: Neil Gorsuch in 2017, Brett Kavanaugh in 2018, and Amy Coney Barrett in 2020.² In total, McConnell oversaw the confirmation of 234 federal judges during his tenure as majority leader.³

In March 2016, following the death of Justice Antonin Scalia, McConnell refused to hold hearings or a vote on President Obama’s nominee, Merrick Garland, arguing the vacancy should be filled by the next president because it was an election year. The Garland nomination expired without a vote in January 2017.⁴ Four years later, after Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died in September 2020, McConnell moved quickly to confirm Barrett before that year’s election, arguing the situation was different because the Senate and White House were controlled by the same party.⁵ In 2017, McConnell led the elimination of the filibuster for Supreme Court nominees, a rule change that allowed Gorsuch’s confirmation on a 54–45 vote.²

Legislation, Trump, and Ukraine

McConnell helped shepherd the 2017 Republican tax-reform bill through the Senate and managed the chamber’s approval of a pandemic relief package in March 2020. He also used the filibuster aggressively during the Obama years to stall Democratic priorities on health care, financial regulation, gun control, and minimum wage increases.² In 2010, he said “the single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president.” Later in his career, he facilitated Republican support for Biden-era bipartisan measures on infrastructure, semiconductor manufacturing, gun safety, and postal reform.⁶

McConnell managed Trump’s first Senate impeachment trial in 2020. After the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, he said Trump was “practically and morally responsible” for the violence but voted to acquit, arguing the Senate lacked jurisdiction over a former president. After stepping down as leader, McConnell voted against several Trump cabinet nominees, including Pete Hegseth, Tulsi Gabbard, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.²

Support for aid to Ukraine has become his defining late-career stance. He publicly challenged a Trump administration peace plan in November 2025, calling it an effort to “appease the Kremlin,” and in April 2026 he wrote in the Washington Post that the Pentagon was stalling on $400 million in Ukraine aid that Congress had already authorized.⁷⁸ He described rooting out the GOP’s “isolationist streak” as his top priority for his final two years in office.⁹

Retirement

In 2023, McConnell had a series of health scares, including a concussion and fractured rib from a fall at a Washington hotel and two moments where he appeared to freeze at press conferences. The Capitol physician cleared him to work.¹⁰¹¹ On February 28, 2024, he announced he would step down from his leadership post that November. On February 20, 2025, he announced he would not seek an eighth term. “My current term in the Senate will be my last,” he said.¹² His term expires in January 2027.¹³

Rand Paul, Junior Senator

Rand Paul, an ophthalmologist by training, was elected to the Senate in 2010 on a tea party wave, winning the seat vacated by retiring Republican Jim Bunning. He has served continuously since January 2011 and is now in his third term, which runs through January 2029.¹⁴ Paul has described himself as “libertarian-ish” and often stakes out positions that separate him from both parties, particularly on government surveillance, military intervention, and federal spending.

Defining Fights

Paul’s most famous Senate moment came on March 6, 2013, when he launched a nearly 13-hour talking filibuster to protest the Obama administration’s drone policies. The filibuster targeted John Brennan’s confirmation as CIA director and was sparked by Attorney General Eric Holder’s refusal to explicitly rule out using lethal drone force against American citizens on U.S. soil. Paul remained on his feet the entire time, declaring, “I will speak as long as it takes, until the alarm is sounded from coast to coast.”¹⁵ The next day, Holder sent Paul a letter stating that the president does not have the authority to use a weaponized drone to kill an American not engaged in combat on American soil.¹⁶

In May 2015, Paul filibustered the USA FREEDOM Act to stall reauthorization of the Patriot Act’s bulk metadata collection program.¹⁷ In 2014, he had already filed a lawsuit against President Obama and intelligence agency leaders challenging the constitutionality of the NSA’s bulk phone-records collection.¹⁸

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Paul became one of the most visible congressional critics of Dr. Anthony Fauci in a series of heated exchanges at Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee hearings. The central dispute was whether the National Institutes of Health had funded gain-of-function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. At a July 2021 hearing, Fauci told Paul, “Senator, you do not know what you are talking about, quite frankly,” and accused Paul of propagating a lie. Paul said Fauci had committed a “crime to lie to Congress.”¹⁹ At a January 2022 hearing, Fauci said Paul’s “false accusations” had “kindled the crazies” and incited death threats against him and his family.²⁰

Committee Role and Legislative Priorities

In the 119th Congress, Paul chairs the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, the Senate’s primary oversight body responsible for evaluating the efficiency of federal agencies.²¹ He also serves on the Foreign Relations, Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, and Small Business committees.¹⁴

His signature proposals include the “Audit the Fed” bill calling for a full audit of the Federal Reserve, the REINS Act requiring congressional approval for major executive branch regulations, and the “Bonuses for Cost-Cutters Act” rewarding federal employees who identify waste.²² The only bill he has primary-sponsored into law so far is the FDA Modernization Act 2.0, enacted during the 117th Congress. Paul is a frequent “no” vote on spending and nominations.¹⁴

2028 Plans

Paul told reporters in early 2026 that he is considering a 2028 presidential run, calling the odds “fifty-fifty” and saying he will decide after the November 2026 midterm elections.²³ He previously ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016. His Senate term does not expire until January 2029, so a presidential campaign would not require him to give up his seat.

The 2026 Race to Replace McConnell

McConnell’s retirement set off the first open-seat Kentucky Senate race in more than a decade. In the May 19, 2026, primary elections, U.S. Representative Andy Barr won the Republican nomination and former state Representative Charles Booker won the Democratic nomination. They face each other in the November 2026 general election.²⁴

Barr, who has represented Kentucky’s 6th Congressional District since 2013, won the GOP primary with 283,833 votes, defeating former state Attorney General Daniel Cameron, who received 144,592 votes.²⁵ He secured an endorsement from President Donald Trump on May 1, 2026, and has campaigned on border security, traditional energy, and alignment with the Trump agenda.²⁴

Booker, a Louisville Democrat who has run for the Senate in previous cycles, defeated Amy McGrath, Dale Romans, and state Representative Pamela Stevenson in the Democratic primary. He is campaigning on living wages, affordable health care, and building a cross-partisan coalition, and has framed the race as a chance to “flip this seat” for Democrats.²⁶ The seat is widely seen as a safe Republican hold in November.²⁴ Whoever wins will be sworn in when McConnell’s term ends in January 2027.

1
U.S. Senate. Longest-Serving Party Leaders
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Britannica. Mitch McConnell
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NBC News. Mitch McConnell Announces Retirement, Ending Decadeslong Senate Career
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SCOTUSblog. Senator Mitch McConnell Responds to Nomination
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Brookings Institution. McConnell’s Fabricated History to Justify a 2020 Supreme Court Vote
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Politico. Mitch McConnell Expert Roundup
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The New York Times. Republicans Trump Ukraine
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The Washington Post. Mitch McConnell Congress Funded Ukraine Pentagon Is Stalling
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Punchbowl News. Mitch McConnell Ukraine Aid
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CNN. Mitch McConnell Stepping Down From Leadership
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ABC News. McConnell to Step Down as Senate GOP Leader
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NPR. Mitch McConnell Retirement Senate Kentucky
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BBC. Mitch McConnell Steps Down as Senate Republican Leader
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GovTrack. Sen. Rand Paul
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Politico. Rand Paul Filibuster John Brennan CIA Nominee
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NPR. Nearly 13 Hours Later, Sen. Paul Ends His Filibuster
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Association of Research Libraries. Senator Rand Paul Filibusters USA Freedom Act
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The New York Times. Rand Paul Files Lawsuit Over NSA Call Surveillance
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Axios. Fauci, Rand Paul, Wuhan Institute
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CNBC. Fauci: Sen. Paul’s Accusations Kindle the Crazies, Incited Death Threats
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GovTrack. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
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Office of Senator Rand Paul. Senator Rand Paul
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Politico. Rand Paul Weighs a 2028 Presidential Bid
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Kentucky Lantern. U.S. Rep. Andy Barr Wins Republican Primary for Mitch McConnell’s Senate Seat
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Kentucky Secretary of State. 2026 Kentucky Election Results
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WKYT. Charles Booker Wins Democratic Primary for U.S. Senate