(WAVE/WKYT) – Nine weeks after Tuesday night, Kentucky primary voters will make their choice for party nominees.
For registered Republicans, that will mean picking who they believe can win and succeed Mitch McConnell in the United States Senate.
Monday night, three of the top Senate contenders debated issues on voters’ minds before they go to the ballot box: Kentucky representative Andy Barr, former Kentucky attorney general Daniel Cameron and businessman Nate Morris.
“Kentucky deserves someone with a proven track record of delivering results for the commonwealth of Kentucky,” Barr said.
“You know my track record,” Cameron said. “I stood as your attorney general, standing firmly for our constitutional rights when we had a governor that tried to shut down our state.”
“I don’t come from the political class,” Morris said. “I don’t make my living in government like my opponents. I’m here as a businessman, as an outsider.”
Barr was asked about his voting against a resolution that would require congressional approval for future military action in Iran.
“The president has the legal authority as Commander in Chief to defend the country, and Congress has the power to declare war, but Congress does not have the power to prevent the president from advancing our national security,” Barr argued.
Cameron was asked where he draws the line when it comes to immigration enforcement, after US citizens have died in interactions with ICE agents in the past couple of months.
“Whether it is ICE or CBP, they need to be fully funded so that they can do their job. Look, folks in neighborhoods all across this commonwealth and this country want to be able to sleep soundly in their homes,” said Cameron.
Morris defended his position on affordability and job creation.
“The folks on this stage, they’ve never created a single job. I took 10,000 dollars, I built one of the largest waste management companies in the United States, and I did it all from scratch and provided free healthcare for every one of my employees,” he said.
Many times throughout the debate, Barr and Morris threw jabs at one another.
“Andy Barr has a nickname in Washington. They call him ‘Amnesty Andy’ for a reason. He has never met an illegal immigrant that he doesn’t want to bring into our country and take the job from an American worker,” said Morris.
“The only person who supports foreign workers replacing Americans is Mr. Morris who hired them to replace American workers…and he embraced a UN proposal to open our borders to illegal immigrants,” Barr said in response.
Cameron argued that back and forth took away from the real issues.
“What I think you saw tonight was a display of two candidates, Congressman Barr and Mr. Morris, who were attacking each other and more focused on personal grievances as opposed to what you care about,” said Cameron.
Kentucky’s primary will be held on May 19th, and the deadline to register to vote is April 20th.
Kentucky is one of eight US states that have closed primaries, meaning only registered members can cast ballots for their party’s nominees.