Dale Romans, a leading trainer in Kentucky and president of the local chapter of the Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association, has launched a campaign to run for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by retiring Senator Mitch McConnell. In an announcement, Romans said that he will be running as an “independent Democrat.” The Democratic primary for the seat is scheduled to be held on May 19, and four other Democratic candidates with significant political experience have already announced their own campaigns. “To solve the challenges before us, we need a fix, not a fight,” said Romans in the announcement. “As an independent Democrat, I won’t be beholden to the national party, and I won’t be a puppet of the president like a freshman Republican senator would be. I love Kentucky, and I know our state needs a senator in Washington focused on the people.” In the last Senate campaign, in 2020, McConnell beat the Democratic candidate Amy McGrath, a former U.S. Marines fighter pilot who received nearly $90 million in campaign funding, by almost 20 points. McGrath has announced that she will run again for the Democratic nomination. :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. Rural counties in Kentucky lean heavily Republican, though the state’s two major cities, Louisville and Lexington, often vote majority Democrat (disregarding recent gerrymanders that incorporate rural areas into the metropolitan areas). In the last presidential election, Republican candidate Donald Trump won the state by 30.5 percent. Kentucky does have a Democratic governor in Andy Beshear, however. Among Republicans vying for the seat is U.S. Rep. Andy Barr, a six-term congressman who has significant ties to the state’s racing industry. Barr has shepherded racing legislation through the House during his tenure, and he was a prominent supporter of this year’s tax-and-spending legislation that has led to enormous run-ups in bloodstock prices. In his announcement, Romans said he supported an end to “destructive tariffs” but also said that he would seek to remove “harmful overregulation” on state businesses. He also said that he supported policies that would “relive the pain and pressure of the affordability crisis on working people by lowering costs, boosting wages, and creating more and better jobs” while simultaneously “reversing the painful health-care cuts and hospital closures forced on Kentucky” by the 2025 tax-and-spending bill. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.