Trump-backed US representative wins Republican nomination to fill outgoing senator's seat

US Rep. Andy Barr won the Republican nomination Tuesday to fill the seat being vacated by outgoing long-time Sen. Mitch McConnell.

Barr, who won the support of US President Donald Trump in the race, defeated former state Attorney General Daniel Cameron in Kentucky's Republican primary, the Associated Press projected. Barr is now the heavy favorite to assume McConnell's seat.

Kentucky has not sent a Democrat to the US Senate since 1992, when it handed Wendell Ford a fourth term in the chamber.

Trump not only endorsed Barr, but greatly improved his electoral chances by convincing a third Republican candidate -- businessman Nate Morris -- to drop out of the race. Morris, like Barr, positioned himself as a staunch MAGA loyalist. Trump offered him an ambassadorship to incentivize his withdrawal.

"I will be making an endorsement for U.S. Senate in Kentucky shortly, but l've asked Nate to step aside from that race to take a role in my administration as an ambassador," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform earlier this month.