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LEXINGTON, Ky. — <\/span>U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell is considered such a titan in his home state that Kentucky lawmakers voted to put a statue of him alongside Abraham Lincoln in the Capitol. After overcoming polio<\/a> as a child, McConnell rose to become the longest-serving Senate leader in history and helped secure a conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court.<\/p>\n But anyone listening for flowery tributes to McConnell<\/a> won’t hear them on the campaign trail as his party looks for a successor to the retiring senator. <\/p>\n U.S. Rep. Andy Barr and former state Attorney General Daniel Cameron, who are competing for the Republican nomination in Tuesday’s primary, have carefully calibrated their distance from the man they once described as a mentor.<\/p>\n It marks the closing stages of a generational shift among Republicans, with old guard figures like McConnell stepping off the political stage as President Donald Trump works to finalize his makeover of the party. Although there’s widespread acknowledgment that McConnell is no longer in sync with today’s \u201cMake America Great Again\u201d politics, the 84-year-old nonetheless maintains deep influence and a loyal following in Kentucky. <\/p>\n The candidates are walking a \u201crazor’s edge\u201d between an establishment that’s still loyal to the senator and \u201cvoters’ unhappiness with Mitch McConnell\u2019s old-school Reagan-Bush era Republicans,\u201d said Stephen Voss, a political scientist at the University of Kentucky.<\/p>\n McConnell broke with the president after the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, saying he played a role in instigating the riot. More recently, he has opposed some of Trump’s nominees<\/a>, including Pete Hegseth as defense secretary and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.<\/a> as health secretary. He also agitated for continued military assistance for Ukraine during the Russian invasion. <\/p>\n Many of Kentucky\u2019s Republican politicians credit McConnell with, in one way or another, playing a role in their careers. They will mention the over $65 billion that the senator\u2019s office said he\u2019s brought back to his home state, or his work establishing Republicans\u2019 dominance in the state.<\/p>\n So it didn\u2019t sit well with some Republicans when Nate Morris, a third candidate in the Senate primary, ran an advertisement showing a cardboard cutout of McConnell in the trash. Morris dubbed Barr and Cameron as \u201cMcConnell\u2019s boys.\u201d<\/p>\n Being seen as out of step with Trump can be radioactive with Republican primary voters. But it landed flat for Shawnee State University student Landon Shaw, 21.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s talking about how much he opposes McConnell,\u201d he said, \u201che\u2019s not talking about himself.\u201d<\/p>\n It appears to have fallen short for others, too. Morris lagged behind Cameron and Barr, despite $10 million in financial support from Elon Musk. Two weeks ago, Trump offered him a yet-unspecified ambassadorship and Morris dropped out of the race.<\/p>\n Despite some goodwill toward McConnell, many Republicans are ready for a change.<\/p>\n \u201cHe did a great service for the United States, for Kentucky, but times are changing and we need to finally move on and thank him for his service,\u201d said Tony Quillen, 61, the property valuation administrator in Greenup County.<\/p>\n Cameron, who previously worked as a legal counsel to McConnell, tested that dissatisfaction among voters last year. He said the senator was \u201cflat out wrong\u201d<\/a> for opposing Hegseth, Kennedy and Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence in a video posted to social media that effectively launched his campaign. <\/p>\n He struck a different note as he sat in an emptying banquet hall after a recent Lincoln Day Dinner in Covington, Kentucky.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you talk to people, they acknowledge this is a change election and are ready for someone else to serve in that seat,\u201d Cameron said, \u201cbut they also don\u2019t want you to kick a man when he\u2019s on the way out. Call it the kindness or courteous nature of Kentuckians.\u201d<\/p>\n Barr, who once interned under McConnell, has suggested he wants a tent that includes McConnell-type Republicans, but he has a standard line on the campaign trail when talking about the senator.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople have asked me,\u201d Barr told voters at a recent event at a public library, \u201care you a Mitch McConnell Republican or are you a Rand Paul Republican?\u201d referring to the state\u2019s other senator.<\/p>\n \u201cI am neither, I am an Andy Barr Republican,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Barr was endorsed by Trump<\/a> at the beginning of the month. A campaign consultant for Cameron fired back with a statement reminding voters of Barr\u2019s association with the senator.<\/p>\n \u201cCongrats to Mitch McConnell for getting his guy,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n Still, in one of their final forums before Tuesday’s primary, both Cameron and Barr were complimentary toward McConnell, according to a report from The Paducah Sun<\/a>, a local newspaper.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of dollars in resources have been secured here because of Sen. McConnell and we need somebody in Washington that\u2019s going to maintain the responsibility,\u201d Cameron said.<\/p>\n Barr referred to the elevation of the state under McConnell’s leadership. \u201cIt\u2019s really important that Kentucky continues to do as Sen. McConnell said, to punch above its weight,\u201d he said, adding that he was his \u201cown man.\u201d<\/p>\n Voss, the professor of politics, said the senator’s team knows the candidates have to walk a fine line. <\/p>\n \u201cMcConnell\u2019s people are realistic enough to understand that the candidates need to distance themselves from McConnell,\u201d he said, \u201cbut that\u2019s different than openly disrespecting or attacking him.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n