Barr, Andy Rep 2%
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League of Conservation Voters
10%
2020
cei grn 100?
drucker?
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Andy Barr (R-Ky.)
Cook Political Report: Toss-up | LCV: 2%
Barr, who launched his political career in 2010 by fiercely opposing cap and trade policies, is now trying to walk the nonexistent line between acknowledging climate change and also fiercely advocating for coal energy. He has previously said that, “We should not want the most carbon-free energy, but the best energy.” He was also a co-sponsor of a resolution that called for the U.S. to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement. While Kentucky’s 6th voted overwhelmingly for President Trump and Mitt Romney:{, Barr faces a strong challenger in Amy McGrath, who burst onto the scene after she released }
:{ and }:triumphed over Lexington Mayor Jim Gray:{ in the Kentucky Democratic primary.}:
==
an 3 25
LEXINGTON — More than 900 people gathered Saturday morning for what was billed as a People’s Town Hall at the Kentucky Theatre. Many waited in line to address an empty chair on stage next to a sign that said “Reserved for Congressman Andy Barr.”
Multiple speakers, including Brady Blanton of Richmond, alluded to Republican Barr’s earlier suggestions that attendees were “liberal activists” or paid to be there.
“I’m not a paid protester; I’m a blue collar worker,” Blanton said. “I am a child of Social Security survivors benefits and Medicaid after my father passed away 15 years ago and they kept my family afloat.”
Blanton, 26, told the Lantern he works for a plastics manufacturer in Winchester. He said he still depends on Medicaid to provide his 2-year-old daughter’s health insurance and that he worries that cuts to Veterans Affairs will hurt his grandfather, a veteran of the Vietnam War.
Blanton noted that the U.S. House’s budget blueprint would increase defense spendingby $100 billion while cutting $880 billionfrom health and human services such as Medicaid, which covers 196,729 people in the 6th Congressional District or 26% of Barr’s constituents. Almost 1 in 3 Kentuckians are enrolled in Medicaid.
Barr says don’t worry about Trump and Musk, but declines chance to reassure upcoming town hall
The Department of Veterans Affairs would lose 80,000 jobsunder a planned reorganization by the Trump administration, according to an internal memo obtained by the Associated Press. VA provides health care and other services to veterans.
Older speakers talked about their fathers’ military service, including fighting fascism in World War II, and their distress at what they see as Republican President Donald Trump’s embrace of authoritarianism while giving longtime allies the cold shoulder.
Describing himself as a lifelong Republican, Edwin Gibson said his father had served in the Navy during the Korean War and that he himself had been stationed in the Army in Germany during the Cold War. “Congressman Barr, you are complicit in the betrayal of our democracy,” Gibson said.
Barr, of Lexington, who is mulling a run for U.S. Senate next year to succeed retiring Sen. Mitch McConnell, took to X (formerly Twitter)Saturday morning to “set the record straight” in response to what he called “the handful of people who falsely claim they cannot reach anyone in my office or that I ‘refuse to hold town hall meetings.’”
Barr in his X post said that he and his staff are in daily contact with his constituents and that they host monthly office hours in every county of the district. He said he is hosting a telephone town hall Monday night.
“What we will not do is provide a forum for individuals more interested in grandstanding than engaging in a respectful and constructive conversation,” Barr said.
Organizers with the nonpartisan group Gathering for Democracy said that after not getting a commitment from Barr in response to their invitations, they decided to schedule the town hall to give people “distressed by what is happening in our government” an opportunity to come together and talk about their concerns.
“The intent is to invite dialogue,” said Judith Humble, one of the event’s organizers. She said volunteers handed out 800 cards for attendees to fill out before running out of cards.
Speakers were filmed and the video will be sent to Barr; attendees could write a question and tell their story to the congressman on the cards, which also will be sent to Barr. Former Lexington Mayor Steve Kay moderated.
Concerns voiced during the gathering ranged widely from cuts to the U.S. Forest Service cited by a speaker who identified himself as an archaeologist to worries that the elimination of the U.S. Agency for International Development will cancel expansion of the University of Kentucky’s partnernshipwith the underserved community of Santo Domingo, Ecuador.
Students, faculty, staff and community members participate in UK’s Shoulder to Shoulder Global,described on the program’s website as “transformative, short-term experiences in global health.” Plans to start a physical rehabilitation center as part of the program are on hold because a federal grant has been frozen, said physical therapist Lynn English.
Barr also took to X after the gathering saying: “Nice to see Soros + the left lighting money on fire. No amount of manufactured outrage by paid activists will stop the mandate for total overhaul of DC” and reiterating his support for Trump and his billionaire adviser Elon Musk.
U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson has advised Republicans to avoid town halls after some GOP representatives have faced hostile crowds.
The Kentucky Democratic Party and former U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth of Louisville plan to hold a town hall in Lexington Wednesday at the Lyric Theatre & Cultural Arts Center from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Kentucky Lantern is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kentucky Lantern maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jamie Lucke for questions: info@kentuckylantern.com.
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coward
https://www.alternet.org/2019/04/gop-rep-predictably-withdraws-invite-to-have-ocasio-cortez-meet-with-coal-miners-as-kentucky-republicans-worry-the-plan-might-backfire/
Republican Rep. Andy Barr of Kentucky recently invited Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to meet with coal miners in his state in the hope of showing her that a Green New Deal would harm them financially. But the 29-year-old congresswoman accepted his invitation, stressing that green energy is about job creation—not putting Americans out of work. And Barr, GQ is reporting, has withdrawn his invitation.
According to GQ’s Luke Darby, Barr is demanding that Ocasio-Cortez apologize to Rep. Dan Crenshaw of Texas over something that is unrelated to coal miners and the Green New Deal: Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar’s recent comments about the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. After Crenshaw attacked Omar and claimed that she said the 9/11 al-Qaeda attacks weren’t terrorism—which Omar never said—Ocasio-Cortez rose to Omar’s defense and called Crenshaw out on Twitter for having “the audacity to drum resentment towards Ilhan” with “completely out-of-context” quotes. AOC pointed out to Crenshaw that “in 2018, right-wing extremists were behind almost all domestic terrorist killings.”
Barr is maintaining that unless Ocasio-Cortez apologizes to Crenshaw, his invitation to speak to Kentucky coal miners is off. But according to Darby’s report in GQ, Republicans could be using the Omar controversy as a smokescreen — and Kentucky Republicans are worried that AOC could make some convincing arguments if she comes face to face with coal miners.
Rep. James Comer of Kentucky recently warned that he didn’t “see any upside” to bringing Ocasio-Cortez to his state and that “a lot of Republicans are making a mistake picking on her. I think we need to be very prepared when we debate her on issues that we’re having a hard time with.”
On April 16, Ocasio-Cortez responded to Comer’s assertion on Twitter and saw it as evidence that Republicans are “getting scared that up close, their constituents will realize I’m fighting harder for their health care than their own reps.”
==
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Barr_(American_politician)
Garland Hale "Andy" Barr IV (born July 24, 1973) is an American attorney and politician serving as the U.S. Representative for Kentucky's 6th congressional district since 2013. Prior to being elected, he served in the administration of Ernie Fletcher when he served as Governor of Kentucky. He is a member of the Republican Party.
- 1Early life
- 2Law career
- 3Congressional campaigns
- 4U.S. House of Representatives
- 5Political positions
- 6Personal life
- 7References
- 8External links
Early life[
Barr was born in Lexington, Kentucky, and is the son of Garland Hale Barr III and Rev. Donna R. (Faulconer) Barr.[1] The Barr family has been in Lexington for generations, and Barr Street in that city is reportedly named for one of Barr's ancestors.[2] His father founded the accounting firm of Barr, Anderson and Roberts and his mother is a deacon in the Episcopal Diocese of Lexington.[1]
Barr graduated from Henry Clay High School in Lexington, Kentucky, in 1992.[3] He attended the University of Virginia where, as a contributor to a conservative campus publication called The Virginia Advocate, he was highly critical of then-President Bill Clinton for allegedly evading the draft. While in college, he was also an intern for U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell and the Republican National Committee as well as a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon. In 1993, at age 19, he was arrested in Key West, Florida, and charged with possessing a fake Mississippi driver's license. He pleaded guilty to the charge and was sentenced to eight hours of community service.[4]
Barr graduated with a bachelor's degree in government and philosophy in 1996.[2] From 1996 until 1998, he worked as a legislative assistant to Jim Talent, then a U.S. Representative from Missouri.[3] In 1999, he was charged with public intoxication in Lexington, a charge that was dismissed four months later.[2] In 2001, Barr earned a law degree from the University of Kentucky College of Law.[5]
Law career[
Commencing practice in Lexington, he joined the Fayette County Bar Association Young Lawyers Section and co-founded the Lexington Charity Club – a non-profit organization of young men raising money for charitable causes – with Lee Greer and Rob Lewis.[6] In 2002, he joined the liability defense service group and the business litigation service group at the Lexington law firm of Stites & Harbison.[7] While there, he worked for former Democratic Kentucky Attorney General and future Governor Steve Beshear, who urged him to get involved in state politics.[3] Barr and colleague Brad Cowgill were employed by Republican gubernatorial candidate Ernie Fletcher in 2003 to fight charges that Fletcher's running mate, Hunter Bates, did not meet the state's residency requirements for eligibility for the office of lieutenant governor.[2] A judge ruled against Bates, and he was dropped from the ticket.[2]
Fletcher administration[
Fletcher's term in office was marred by a hiring scandal that involved violations of the state merit system.[3] Barr was not implicated in the scandal; he told the Lexington Herald-Leader that Fletcher's Local Initiatives for a New Kentucky (LINK) outreach program – a sub-unit of the office of local development – stopped recruiting and vetting individuals for merit positions in the executive branch after he briefed officials about an opinion issued by the Executive Branch Ethics Commission during the administration of Fletcher's predecessor, Paul E. Patton, regarding acceptable and unacceptable hiring under the merit system.[9] The Herald-Leader later requested copies of any employment recommendations made by LINK employees, but Barr refused the request, citing an exemption in Kentucky's Open Records Act that provides exemptions for "preliminary drafts, notes and correspondence" of state employees.[11]After Fletcher won the election, Barr was named to the governor-elect's transition team in the Public Protection and Regulation Cabinet.[8] Ultimately, Fletcher chose Barr as general counsel for the governor's office of local development.[9] When Fletcher declared April to be Child Abuse Prevention Month in Kentucky, Barr wrote Fletcher's speech for the occasion.[2]While researching the speech, he made contact with the non-profit group Prevent Child Abuse in Kentucky.[2] He became interested in the organization's mission and was elected to its board of directors in 2004; he served as vice-president of the organization in 2007 and president in 2008 and 2009.[2][10]
In 2007, Fletcher's general counsel resigned to become executive director of the Kentucky Bar Association; deputy general counsel David E. Fleenor was elevated to general counsel, and Barr replaced Fleenor as deputy general counsel.[12] In this capacity, he authored a defense of Fletcher's executive order that the Ten Commandments be posted in the rotunda of the state capitol alongside other historical documents.[2] Fletcher was defeated for reelection in 2007 and before his term expired, he named Barr to the state Public Advocacy Commission.[13]
Post-Fletcher administration[edit]
In April 2008, Barr returned to private practice as an associate at the law firm of Kinkead and Stilz; he also worked as a part-time instructor, teaching constitutional law at the University of Kentucky.[3][14] He was chosen as an alternate delegate to the 2008 Republican National Convention and served as vice-president of the Fayette County Republican Party.[15][16]
Congressional campaigns[
2010[
Main article: United States House of Representatives elections in Kentucky, 2010 § District 6
After forming an exploratory committee in September 2009, on November 10, 2009, Barr became the first Republican to formally announce that he would seek his party's nomination to challenge incumbent 5th district congressman Ben Chandler.[3] In the announcement, he touted his opposition to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (which Chandler had also opposed) and the American Clean Energy and Security Act(which Chandler supported).[3] Barr's campaign raised far more money than those of any of his five opponents in the Republican primary.[17] Barr garnered 31,255 votes in the primary, while his opponents' totals ranged from 4,789 to 1,880.[18]
The National Republican Congressional Committee targeted Barr's race against Chandler as part of their strategy to gain control of the House of Representatives during the 2010 midterm elections, and Ohio Congressman John Boehner – who stood to become Speaker of the House if the Republicans gained a majority – visited the state to campaign on Barr's behalf.[20]Substantial amounts of money from political groups outside the state aided both candidates and spawned a number of negative campaign ads.[20] Chandler started the barrage in August with ads alluding to Barr's arrest in Florida for using a fake ID and seeking to tie him to the wrongdoing of the Fletcher administration.[20] Barr countered with ads criticizing Chandler's support of cap-and-trade legislation – an unpopular vote in coal-dependent Kentucky – and his vote in favor of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, which Barr characterized as a waste of taxpayer money that did little to stimulate an economic recovery.[20]In an interview with WKYT-TV in July, Barr further elaborated on his platform.[19] Declaring his support for the free market, he denounced the recently signed Dodd–Frank Act that enacted new regulations on the banking industry.[19] He called for an end to the practice of politicians earmarking funds for special projects in their districts, a position that put him at odds with state party leaders like McConnell and long-time 5th district Congressman Hal Rogers.[19] Although he supported strengthening security along the U.S. border with Mexico to curb illegal immigration, he stated his belief that fellow Republican Senate candidate Rand Paul's plan to deny citizenship to U.S.-born children of illegal immigrants was a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment.[19]
Unofficial election day results showed Chandler scoring a narrow victory over Barr, but the race was so close that Barr refused to concede.[21] When the official results were released, Chandler had received 119,812 votes to 119,163 for Barr.[21] Barr petitioned Kentucky Secretary of State Trey Grayson for a recanvass of the voting machines in the district, but this yielded only one additional vote for Barr.[21] On November 12, ten days after the election, Barr announced that he would concede the election to Chandler rather than requesting a full recount.[21]
2012[edit]
Main article: United States House of Representatives elections in Kentucky, 2012 § District 6
On June 9, 2011, Barr announced that he would again challenge Chandler for his seat in the 2012 elections.[22] The announcement was immediately hailed by Texas Congressman Pete Sessions, chairman of the National Republican Campaign Committee, who said, "we need Republicans like Andy Barr to join us in Congress to cut spending, lower taxes and reduce the national debt."[22] Chandler responded to the announcement by declaring, "Next year, voters will have a very simple choice to make: whether to protect and save Social Security and Medicare, or to end them," an allusion to Barr's publicly expressed support for WisconsinCongressman Paul Ryan's budget proposal.[22]
In July 2012, Roll Call reported that "a wide swath of influential Republicans in Kentucky see Barr's campaign as something of a lost cause...In the eyes of those who know Kentucky best, from Washington, D.C., to Frankfort, this isn't much of a race right now."[23]
Both candidates began their TV ad campaigns with more positive ads; Barr's wife appeared in his first ad, touting him as a "family man", while Chandler tried to combat Barr's charges of fiscal liberalism by releasing an ad criticizing excessive government spending.[28] Tea Party-backed Kentucky Senator Rand Paul endorsed Barr despite differences between the two on some policy matters, including Barr's support for the Patriot Act.[28] The positive tone did not hold as the race tightened, however. Chandler's campaign attacked Barr for using a mining executive from Morganfield – which is well outside the 6th district – as a coal miner from Estill County – which is in the district.[29]
The campaign's charges that the man depicted was "not a miner" prompted him to threaten a suit for defamation, and he produced copies of his certified miner credentials in rebuttal to the charge.[29] The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee also bought ads that again raised the issue of Barr's previous conviction and his association with Fletcher.[30]Barr easily turned back token opposition in the Republican primary and again received financial support from the National Republican Campaign Committee in his general election campaign.[24] When Chandler decided not to attend the 2012 Democratic National Convention, Barr charged that he was trying to avoid association with President Barack Obama, who was seeking a second term but who was unpopular with many voters in Kentucky.[25] A spokesperson for Chandler maintained that Chandler had previous engagements in his home district that week, but that he supported Obama's reelection.[25] Barr was chosen to give a brief address at the 2012 Republican National Convention, during which he decried Obama's perceived hostility toward the coal industry.[26] Chandler campaign staffers criticized Barr's decision to attend the convention, stating that he should spend the time in his district, getting to know the people there better.[27] They also mocked the fact that the backdrop for Barr's speech was a picture of the city of Louisville, which is not in the 6th district; Barr's campaign countered that they had no part in choosing the backdrop.[26]
Barr won the election by a vote of 153,222 to 141,436.[31]
2014[edit]
Main article: United States House of Representatives elections in Kentucky, 2014 § District 6
Barr faced Democrat Elisabeth Jensen in the General Election of 2014. 147,404 votes were cast for Barr, and 98,290 to Jensen, about 60% to 40% respectively. Although not a competitive race, Barr was able to garner wide support and raise an incredible amount of cash compared to the low funds challenger Elisabeth Jensen took in. The Sixth Congressional District in Kentucky is a right of center swing district.[32]
2016[edit]
Main article: United States House of Representatives elections in Kentucky, 2016 § District 6
In the 2016 congressional elections, Democrat Rev. Nancy Jo Kemper, a graduate of Yale Divinity School and former Executive Director of the Kentucky Council of Churches, challenged Barr in the 6th Congressional District. She ran with the support of former Lt. Governor Crit Luallen, State Senator Reggie Thomas, State Representative Susan Westrom, and Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes.[33][34] Barr won reelection, capturing 61.1% of the votes cast.[35]
2018[edit]
Main article: United States House of Representatives elections in Kentucky, 2018 § District 6
Andy Barr won the primary for the Republican Party.[36] Former Marine fighter pilot Amy McGrath defeated Jim Gray, the mayor of Lexington, Kentucky and state Senator Reggie Thomas to win the Democratic Party primary and face Barr in the general election.[37] The race was considered potentially competitive by some observers.[37] Barr defeated McGrath in the general election, winning 51% of the vote to McGrath's 47.8%.[38]
U.S. House of Representatives[edit]
Tenure[edit]
Barr's first two-year term began on January 3, 2013.
Committee assignments[edit]
Caucus memberships[edit]
- Republican Study Committee[39]
- House Baltic Caucus[40]
- Congressional Constitution Caucus[41]
- U.S.-Japan Caucus[42]
Legislation[edit]
Barr supported the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Act of 2014 (H.R. 4005; 113th Congress), a bill that would amend laws that govern the activities of the United States Coast Guard (USCG), the Maritime Administration (MARAD) within the Department of Transportation, and the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC).[43] Barr testified in favor of the bill because it would "remove the requirement that Valley View Ferry captains be licensed through the Coast Guard, and instead allow the state to implement its own licensing requirement."[44] At present, the local ferry has had to cut back on hours because the ferry has been unable to find a new captain for ferry due to the stringent Coast Guard requirements to get a merchant mariner license, despite the fact that the ferry only travels 500 feet on steel cables, without any steering capabilities.[44] If the bill were to pass, the state government would be able to lower the licensing requirement for such a small ferry with only limited capabilities.
On July 11, 2013, Barr introduced the CFPB Rural Designation Petition and Correction Act (H.R. 2672; 113th Congress), a bill that would amend the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act to direct the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to establish an application process that would allow a person to get their county designated as "rural" for purposes of a federal consumer financial law.[45] One practical effect of having a county designated "rural" is that people can qualify for some types of mortgages by getting them exempted from the CFPB's qualified mortgage rule.[46][47]
On March 6, 2014, Barr introduced the Restoring Proven Financing for American Employers Act (H.R. 4167; 113th Congress), a bill that would "exempt existing collateralized loan obligations from the so-called "Volcker Rule," which bars banks from making risky trades with their own money and limits their investments in certain funds."[48] The bill passed in the House on April 29, 2014, in a voice vote.[49]
In December 2017, Barr voted in favor of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.[50] He introduced the Preserving Access to Manufactured Housing Act, which passed and states that sellers of mobile homes are not loan or mortgage originators and are therefore not subject to the Truth in Lending Act.[51]
Political positions[edit]
Health care[edit]
Barr supports the repeal and replacement of the Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare").[52]
Abortion[edit]
Barr is pro-life. Barr believes that abortion should be illegal, including in cases of rape and incest, unless the mother's life is threatened. Barr opposes using federal funding to support organizations that offer abortions. In a 2012 interview, Barr said that "I think the vast majority of people of this country have come to the conclusion that wherever you are on this issue, we shouldn't have taxpayer funding for abortion."[53]
Interest group ratings[edit]
Barr has a "D" rating from the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), a marijuana legalization advocacy organization, for his voting history regarding cannabis-related causes.[54]
Barr has a zero score from LGBT rights advocacy organization the Human Rights Campaign for his LGBT rights-related voting record.[55]
Donald Trump[edit]
Regarding President Donald Trump's comments in the wake of the Unite the Right rally, Barr said Trump's statement was filled with "too much ambiguity."[56]
Personal life[edit]
In 2008, Barr married Eleanor Carol Leavell of Georgetown, Kentucky, who serves as the executive director of the Henry Clay Center for Statesmanship.[1][2] They have two daughters, Eleanor and Mary Clay.[57] The Barrs are members of the Christ Church Cathedral in Lexington.[1]
References
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https://justfacts.votesmart.org/candidate/evaluations/117290/andy-barr
Environment
American Forest and Paper Association
100%
2017-2018
Americans for Democratic Action (ADA)
0%
2020
Associated Equipment Distributors
91%
2015-2016
Center For Biological Diversity Action Fund
4%
2019-2020
Clean Water Action
12%
2019-2020
Competitive Enterprise Institute
100%
2014
Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund
14%
2020
EarthRights International
0%
2016
Environment America
0%
2017
Food Policy Action
33%
2020
League of Conservation Voters
10%
2020
National Parks Conservation Association
0%
2021-2022
Outdoor Industry Association Political Action Committee
50%
2017-2018
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Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Wednesday accepted an invitation to tour a coal mine and meet with voters in Kentucky—taking advantage of an opportunity to engage with some of the Americans who could benefit most from a Green New Deal.
The invitation came from Rep. Andy Barr (R-Ky.), a member of the Congressional Coal Caucus who asked the New York Democrat to visit his district after she gave an impassioned speech in the House, blasting Republicans and centrists for dismissing the Green New Deal legislation that she is sponsoring as a proposal that would benefit only large coastal cities.
Barr, who wants the U.S. to continue to mine for coal even though it has become more expensive than solar and wind power, asked Ocasio-Cortez to “go underground” with him and talk to people in mining communities....
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