LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — With 19 days to go until Election Day, Kentucky’s 6th district U.S. Congressman picked up a key endorsement from the state’s Fraternal Order of Police.
While some might think that this is not a surprise or a difference-maker given his stranglehold on central Kentucky, Andy Barr isn’t taking it for granted.
“We are in a very divided county,” he said after accepting the endorsement. “This is going to be a very close Presidential election and a very close election for control over the majority of the House and Senate. To get the backing, the endorsement from our law enforcement is very, very important,” he continued.
Mr. Barr is favored to win his race over Democratic challenger Radny Cravens but welcomes the support regardless of the likely outcome on November 5.
“Our communities want to know they are safe, that their businesses are safe, so this signals that I share the priorities of the people in my district,” Barr added.
Mr. Barr has also been following Kentucky Amendment 2, the school choice bill, closely and seems to favor the measure.
“I’m in favor of competition,” he said. “Fayette County recognized a decade-plus ago that if we give our parents and kids opportunities to go to programs they like or want to go into, these are all opportunities for competition to flourish. I think, in general, we need that in education across the state,” he said.
He is pleased that this school choice bill is on the ballot, allowing voters to make the choice for themselves.
“However they decide, I will respect that,” he stated.
Mr. Barr added that inflation and the southern border are the main issues that have not been properly addressed by the current administration. Barr believes their policies have exacerbated both issues.
“The inflation crisis is clearly her (Vice President Kamala Harris’s) fault. We need to reverse those policies. Constrain spending in Washington, get spending under control, and unleash supply. The real answer to inflation control is supply.
Mr. Barr said that the state of the economy is the top concern he hears about from his constituents on a consistent basis. While he acknowledged the currently low unemployment rate, which has been at historically low levels for many years, he said wages are not keeping pace with inflation rates. That, he said, is an offset.
“They may have a job, but it doesn’t matter if wages aren’t keeping up with the price of groceries, or the price of rent, or the price of a used car,” he said.
