Barr and Guthrie win reelection to Congress and now seek possible committee chairmanships

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Republican U.S. Reps. Andy Barr and Brett Guthrie easily passed their first election tests, winning new terms Tuesday to represent their Kentucky districts. Next up will be their campaigns to win House committee chairmanships, if the GOP maintains control of the chamber.

Barr defeated Democrat Randy Cravens in the 6th District, which takes in portions of central and east-central Kentucky. Guthrie defeated Democrat Hank Linderman in the 2nd District, which covers parts of western and central Kentucky.

Their reelection campaigns overlapped with ongoing bids in Washington to lead two key House committees. Barr is vying to become chairman of the House Financial Services Committee. Guthrie is competing for chairmanship of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

The chairmanships will be decided before the next Congress convenes in 2025. If Guthrie and Barr are successful, they would gain considerably more clout, adding to Kentucky’s pull in Congress. Both Kentuckians already hold subcommittee chairmanships. Barr’s congressional career began in 2013 after he defeated a Democratic incumbent. Guthrie was first elected to Congress in 2008.

The Financial Services Committee has broad jurisdiction over the financial sector. The Energy and Commerce Committee wields jurisdiction over energy, health care, telecommunications and consumer product safety policies.

Barr said he wants to use a leadership role on the Financial Services Committee to help working-class families hit hard by high inflation in recent years.

“How are we going to bring prices down and how are we going to restore prosperity for paycheck-to-paycheck, hard-working taxpayers in this country? The answer is to unleash the free enterprise system in this country, to roll back burdensome regulations that have increased the cost of everything,” Barr told Kentucky Educational Television. “That’s what we need to do to restore the American dream.”

Barr and Guthrie’s bids for the chairmanships also will hinge on whether Republicans maintain their majority in the closely divided House. If Democrats regain control, the top role for the GOP members will be as the ranking Republican on the committee.

It was a status quo election Tuesday, with all six members of the state’s U.S. House delegation — five Republicans and one Democrat — winning reelection. No statewide political offices were up for election this year.

Republican U.S. Rep. James Comer won reelection in the sprawling 1st District, which stretches from the Mississippi River to portions of central Kentucky. Comer defeated Democrat Erin Marshall. As chairperson of the House Oversight Committee, Comer was at the center of House Republican investigations of Democratic President Joe Biden that delved into the Biden family’s business dealings.

U.S. Rep. Morgan McGarvey, the lone Democrat in the delegation, won a second term in the Louisville-area 3rd District, defeating Republican Mike Craven. Louisville, the state’s largest city, is one of the few remaining Democratic strongholds left in Kentucky.

Republican U.S. Rep. Hal Rogers, a congressional mainstay for decades, won another term in the 5th District, which covers parts of southern and eastern Kentucky. Rogers has represented the district since 1981. He is a former House Appropriations Committee chairperson and still wields influence as a member of the powerful committee.

Republican U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie won another term in the 4th District, which covers northern Kentucky. The libertarian-leaning Massie has gained a reputation as a maverick for his willingness to defy his party’s top leaders at times since entering Congress in late 2012.

Bruce Schreiner, The Associated Press