Kentucky Republicans race to replace McConnell while carefully keeping him at arm’s length

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — 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 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.

But anyone listening for flowery tributes to McConnell won't hear them on the campaign trail as his party looks for a successor to the retiring senator.

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.

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 “Make America Great Again” politics, the 84-year-old nonetheless maintains deep influence and a loyal following in Kentucky.

The candidates are walking a “razor's edge” between an establishment that's still loyal to the senator and “voters' unhappiness with Mitch McConnell’s old-school Reagan-Bush era Republicans,” said Stephen Voss, a political scientist at the University of Kentucky.

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, including Pete Hegseth as defense secretary and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as health secretary. He also agitated for continued military assistance for Ukraine during the Russian invasion.

Many of Kentucky’s 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’s office said he’s brought back to his home state, or his work establishing Republicans’ dominance in the state.

So it didn’t 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 “McConnell’s boys.”

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.

“He’s talking about how much he opposes McConnell,” he said, “he’s not talking about himself.”

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.

Despite some goodwill toward McConnell, many Republicans are ready for a change.

“He 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,” said Tony Quillen, 61, the property valuation administrator in Greenup County.

Cameron, who previously worked as a legal counsel to McConnell, tested that dissatisfaction among voters last year. He said the senator was “flat out wrong” for opposing Hegseth, Kennedy and Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence in a video posted to social media that effectively launched his campaign.

He struck a different note as he sat in an emptying banquet hall after a recent Lincoln Day Dinner in Covington, Kentucky.

“If you talk to people, they acknowledge this is a change election and are ready for someone else to serve in that seat,” Cameron said, “but they also don’t want you to kick a man when he’s on the way out. Call it the kindness or courteous nature of Kentuckians.”

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.

“People have asked me,” Barr told voters at a recent event at a public library, “are you a Mitch McConnell Republican or are you a Rand Paul Republican?” referring to the state’s other senator.

“I am neither, I am an Andy Barr Republican,” he said.

Barr was endorsed by Trump at the beginning of the month. A campaign consultant for Cameron fired back with a statement reminding voters of Barr’s association with the senator.

“Congrats to Mitch McConnell for getting his guy,” he said.

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 local newspaper.

“A lot of dollars in resources have been secured here because of Sen. McConnell and we need somebody in Washington that’s going to maintain the responsibility,” Cameron said.

Barr referred to the elevation of the state under McConnell's leadership. “It’s really important that Kentucky continues to do as Sen. McConnell said, to punch above its weight,” he said, adding that he was his “own man.”

Voss, the professor of politics, said the senator's team knows the candidates have to walk a fine line.

“McConnell’s people are realistic enough to understand that the candidates need to distance themselves from McConnell,” he said, “but that’s different than openly disrespecting or attacking him.”

FILE - Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., speaks at an event, Aug. 2, 2025, in Fancy Farm, Ky. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, File)

Guests look on as candidates speak on stage during the Kenton County Republican Party Lincoln Day Dinner, Thursday, April 30, 2026, in Covington, Ky. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry)

Republican Kentucky candidates for U.S. Senate Daniel Cameron and Andy Barr shake hands during the Kenton County Republican Party Lincoln Day Dinner, Thursday, April 30, 2026, in Covington, Ky. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry)

Former Kentucky Attorney General and candidate for U.S. Senate Daniel Cameron speaks on stage during the Kenton County Republican Party Lincoln Day Dinner, Thursday, April 30, 2026, in Covington, Ky. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry)

Rep. Andy Barr, R-KY, a Trump-endorsed candidate for the U.S. Senate, speaks to guests of the Kenton County Republican Party Lincoln Day Dinner, Thursday, April 30, 2026, in Covington, Ky. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry)

A teenage Buddhist lama recently blessed thousands at a monastery in the Himalayan foothills.

Just six months earlier and half a world away, he was pulling all-nighters to play Madden NFL on his Xbox at his home in a Minneapolis suburb.

Both are home to Jalue Dorje.

Dorje grew up a typical American teen, loving rap music, video games and football. He’s also an aspiring spiritual leader — recognized from an early age by the Dalai Lama as a reincarnated lama.

The Associated Press began following his story several years ago when he was 14.

Now he’s 19. He graduated from high school last year and moved to northern India to join the Mindrolling Monastery, about 7,200 miles (11,500 kilometers) from his home in Columbia Heights.

Recently, he came to Nepal to meet his parents, who flew from Minneapolis, and attend sacred rituals and teachings conducted by the abbot of Shechen Monastery. Located near the 1,500-year-old Boudhanath stupa, it is one of Tibetan Buddhism’s most sacred sites.

He no longer wore his usual hoodies and sweatpants — only maroon and golden monastic robes. But beneath his robes, he wore white Crocs decorated with Jibbitz charms of “The Simpsons.”

Each morning, he’d awake at dawn. After prayers, he walked from his hotel through crowded Kathmandu streets near the soaring white dome and spire of Boudhanath — with its colorful Tibetan prayer flags and the painted, ever-watching eyes of the Buddha.

Since the Dalai Lama recognized him at age 2, Dorje had spent much of his life training to become a monk. He memorized sacred scriptures, practiced calligraphy and learned the teachings of the Buddha.

The process of identifying a lama is based on spiritual signs and visions.

Dorje was 4 months old when he was identified by Kyabje Trulshik Rinpoche, a venerated master of Tibetan Buddhism. He was later confirmed by several lamas as the eighth Terchen Taksham Rinpoche — the first was born in 1655.

Dorje’s parents took him to meet the Dalai Lama in 2010 when Tibetan Buddhism’s spiritual leader visited Wisconsin. The Dalai Lama cut a lock of Dorje’s hair in a ceremony. He advised the parents to let their son stay in the U.S. to perfect his English and then send him to a monastery.

As a child, he often wondered why he couldn’t sleep later on weekends and watch cartoons like other kids. His dad would tell him that one day it would pay off, “like planting a seed that one day would sprout.”

Fluent in English and Tibetan, Dorje excelled in public school. Although he was enthroned as a lama in a 2019 ceremony in India, his parents let him stay in the U.S. until graduation.

Growing up, he kept a photo of the Dalai Lama in his room above DVD collections of “The Simpsons,” “South Park,” and “Family Guy,” next to the manga graphic novel series ″Buddha.”

He had a deal with his father, who would give him Pokémon cards in return for memorizing Buddhist scriptures. He collected hundreds, sometimes sneaking them in his robes at ceremonies.

Every morning he awoke to recite sacred texts. Then school, followed by football practice. He returned home for tutoring on Tibetan history and Buddhism. At night, he practiced calligraphy or listened to rappers. When he got his license, he drove around listening to Taylor Swift.

An avid sports fan, he roots for the Atlanta Hawks in basketball, Real Madrid in soccer, and the Atlanta Falcons in football.

On the football field, his teammates praised his positivity; he reminded them to have fun and keep losses in perspective. But in the final game of his senior season, he shed tears, realizing it would likely be his last game ever.

He also loves writing and journalism. In high school, he wrote an award-winning story about Tibet for the student newspaper.

He often helped with events representing the local Tibetan community.

For his 18th birthday, the AP was there when more than 1,000 people gathered at the Tibetan American Foundation of Minnesota for the last party before he joined the monastery in India.

He packed light for his new life: headphones, laptop, a Fantasy Football magazine, and a book on the Indian Buddhist master who brought Tantric Buddhism to Tibet.

His parents flew with him to New Delhi and then drove north to Dehradun, near the Himalayan foothills, in the equivalent of college drop-off. They bought him a larger bed, more apt for a football player than a monk. They painted his monastic room and erected a shrine where he could pray.

He took lessons on Buddhist philosophy, and practiced his calligraphy and chanting in India, while his friends attended history, science and literature classes in U.S. colleges.

Despite the 10-hour time difference, he kept in contact with friends back home through texts and WhatsApp.

On time off from chanting and prayers, he built Legos, walked to an arcade to play the FIFA soccer video game, and watched Marvel superhero films and NBA and NFL games on his laptop. He was especially psyched about the halftime Super Bowl show and praised what he called an incredible performance by Bad Bunny.

It was his first time experiencing a life of asceticism. He ate a daily ration of rice and lentils and washed his own clothes — by hand.

But he adjusted, easily getting along with monks from all over Asia, discussing spirituality, popular culture and sports.

Following several years of contemplation and asceticism, Dorje hopes to return to America to teach in Minnesota’s Buddhist community.

His goal is to become “a leader of peace,” following the examples of Nelson Mandela, Gandhi and the Dalai Lama. It’s a long path that began soon after his birth. But he feels ready, saying that this, “is just the beginning.”

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

U.S.-born Buddhist lama Jalue Dorje walks out of a prayer hall during a series of rituals and prayers bestowed by the spiritual leader of Shechen Monastery in Kathmandu, Nepal, on Sunday, April 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Luis Andres Henao)