Lexington businessman Nate Morris, former Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron and U.S. Congressman Andy Barr flip a coin to decide their speaking order at the annual St. Jerome Picnic in Fancy Farm in August 2025. The three are the top Republican contenders vying for Sen. Mitch McConnell’s se at. (Hannah Saad / WKMS)The top three U.S. Senate candidates vying for the GOP nomination in Kentucky and their aligned super PACs have already spent a staggering $48 million in the primary race, according to new federal campaign filings.A large majority of the spending has been by political action committees bankrolled by a handful of billionaires and dark money groups in support of businessman Nate Morris and U.S. Rep. Andy Barr. Despite former Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron being significantly outspent by both of his opponents, polls show a competitive race ahead of the May 19th primary.The new federal reports document fundraising and spending by the campaigns and PACs through March 31; they are the final campaign finance reports submitted before the primary election.The spending in this race has mostly gone toward TV ads (roughly $28 million) either supporting or attacking Morris and Barr and touting or questioning each candidate’s commitment and loyalty to President Donald Trump and his policy agenda.Cameron, on the other hand, has not put up any campaign ads on television, nor had any PAC supporting him through March. Subsequent to the filing deadline, a pro-Cameron PAC finally spent $200,000 on TV ads, but a pro-Barr PAC also spent nearly $1 million on ads attacking Cameron.Nate MorrisMore than $20 million of the spending in the GOP primary race has come from three super PACs supporting Morris, which have been almost entirely funded by a few billionaires.Fight for Kentucky PAC reported raising and spending more than $14 million just in the first three months of this year, with $10 million of that coming from Elon Musk, the Tesla CEO who is considered the wealthiest person in the world. The PAC also received $2.5 million from Thomas Klingenstein, a hedge fund manager who chairs the pro-Trump think tank Clairmont Institute, and $1 million from a PAC bankrolled by Timothy Dutton, a Texas oil and gas billionaire.Fight for Kentucky ads have been a mix of ones boosting Morris as a Trump ally and attacking Barr as insufficiently anti-immigration, aligning with Morris’ campaign message of halting all legal immigration into America.Also hitting Barr with attack ads was Win it Back PAC, which is entirely funded by Pennsylvania finance billionaire Jeff Yass and reported spending $5.4 million through March. Restoration of America PAC spent more than $1 million on ads for Morris last year, which is a group funded by Chicago-area shipping supplies billionaire Richard Uihlein.Morris’ campaign also reported spending more than $6 million through March, mostly thanks to the nearly $5 million that Morris loaned himself.Andy BarrBarr’s campaign has outraised and outspent that of Morris, spending $7.4 million through March and having $4 million left in the bank. Even with that, the major PAC supporting Barr has spent far more than the candidate’s campaign — though much of its funding is untraceable.Keep America Great PAC reported raising and spending roughly $11.5 million through March, with about $10 million of that directed to ads boosting Barr and attacking Morris. The PAC’s largest donors were so-called “dark money” groups that do not have to disclose their donors, with $5 million coming from American Jobs And Growth Fund and $1.6 million from Defend Us Inc. The PAC also received $2.3 million from cryptocurrency giant Foris DAX, which does business as Crypto.com.In early April, KY PAC entered the Kentucky airwaves by reporting $980,000 spent on ads attacking Daniel Cameron. The pro-Barr PAC will not have to report its donors until this summer.Barr’s messaging in campaign ads has also touted him as the most pro-Trump candidate, but has leaned heavily into conservative social issues, featuring anti-trans activist Riley Gaines and criticizing diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. He made the most waves with one ad in which he said “it’s not a sin to be white.”Daniel CameronThe fundraising and spending of the pro-Cameron effort has been a drastically different story. Cameron’s campaign has raised $2 million so far, spending around $1.3 million — and none of that on TV ads.There were also no PAC ads in support of Cameron through March, until Protect and Serve PAC — a pro-law enforcement group — purchased $200,000 of ads in early April.According to Medium Buying, which tracks TV ad spending by campaigns, nearly half of the $28 million in TV ad spending in the Republican primary has been on attack ads against Morris and Barr. More than $9 million of TV ads have been positive ones boosting Morris, while pro-Barr ads have totaled nearly $4 million.Despite pro-Cameron spending in the race only making up less than 3% of the total spending in the race — and pro-Morris spending making up 57% — recent polling in the race shows Morris consistently in third place and Cameron in second place but within striking distance of Barr.The most recent polling from Emerson College in late March had Barr leading with 28%, followed by Cameron at 21% and Morris at 15%. Cameron had consistently led polling in the GOP primary until February, when Barr started pulling into a statistical tie with the former attorney general and GOP nominee for governor in 2023.*Clarification: This story was updated to clarify spending by Win it Back PAC. ...read more read less