Hundreds of Republicans gathered in Lexington over the weekend for the statewide Lincoln dinner.

It was a chance for the party to celebrate, network and hear from the candidates running for U.S. Senate as they campaign ahead of next year's primary election.

As our Mackenzie Spink reports, each candidate made clear their support for President Donald Trump.

The mood at this year's statewide Lincoln dinner was largely celebratory.

West Virginia Governor Jim Justice shared humorous anecdotes on stage alongside his canine companion, Baby Dog, and longtime Republican Party treasurer Kathy Bell was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award by senior Senator Mitch McConnell.

No one is more Bo.

No one is more loyal.

No one is more dedicated to Republican principles.

CNN's senior Republican correspondent Scott Jennings was the emcee for the evening.

His jokes about the Democratic Party's low approval numbers proved to be a consistent theme that emerged throughout the evening.

Republicans in Kentucky are feeling good.

Democratic in Kentucky right now is like a vegan and moonshine barbecue.

Technically.

Well, don't.

You're not having that much influence over the menu.

But to be honest, 33% the lowest in the history of the Wall Street Journal polling.

The party of FDR has become the party of DNR.

Do not resuscitate.

The crowd heard from the four Republican candidates running for Mitch McConnell Senate seat.

All four made appeals to their support for President Donald Trump.

In his speech, Daniel Cameron, the 2023 Republican nominee for governor, emphasized his record as Kentucky's attorney general.

I was the attorney general.

I had the occasion to stand up to the Biden administration on ESG, on DUI.

And I'll continue to be that leader, because I recognize again, that our values are those that fuel this country.

Currently representing Kentucky's sixth district in Congress is Representative Andy Barr.

He spoke on his current work with President Trump on items like the big Beautiful Bill, but also on his record of winning hard elections.

I'm pro-life, A-rated from the NRA, and I backed the blue.

But you will also get a Republican who will win.

And we have to win this fight.

Fellow Republicans, I'm battle tested, and unlike my opponents, I have won the tough elections.

With your help, we flipped a Democrat seat in Congress, and we've held it ever since.

With patriots like people in this room, we will not fail.

Businessman Nate Morris continued his messaging against, quote, career politicians, implying that such politicians are the problem in Washington today.

I don't want to be the longest serving anything.

The US history.

That's one of the reasons why I'm running.

It's the career politicians that have stabbed our president in the back, over and over and over again.

It's the career politicians that wrote white Checks the Ukraine.

It's the career politicians that have saddled generations of our country with debt.

But we don't know how we're going to pay that.

Most of the declared Republican candidates for U.S. Senate made similar pitches on the stage at Fancy Farm just two weeks ago.

Minus one Michael Farris.

He's an Elizabethtown native with the grass roots campaign focused on parents rights and judicial activism.

He also believes in term limits and is only seeking two terms.

You can count on me to vote for tax cuts that benefit Kentuckians and hardworking Americans across the nation.

We must ensure our borders and protect American jobs.

I've never in history have we seen the federal judiciary, Harlan County.

That's because Congress has broken their promises for nearly four decades.

The judges who once ruled in favor of the Constitution are long gone or on their way out.

It's time.

Let me give you the power of impeachment of those judges directly to the people.

Over 800 Republicans attended the 2025 statewide Lincoln Dinner.

It's the first time the event has been held in Lexington for five years.

For Kentucky edition, I'm Mackenzie Spink.

Washington.

Happening just outside the Lincoln dinner was a protest organized by peaceful bluegrass resistance.

Protesters shouted at the Republican attendees as they entered the building, and many held signs demanding the release of the so-called Epstein List.

We felt like they abandoned their constituents here in Kentucky to take care of their corporate donors and their corporate overlords.

And, and the billionaire.

We don't agree with the, the just the rampant overreach of the executive branch.

We don't agree with Congress of relinquishing all of its constitutional power to the executive.

And we certainly don't agree with the cowards in the Supreme Court that are failing to uphold their constitutionally mandated powers to to keep the executive branch in check.

The Facebook invite for the protest highlighted that tickets for the Lincoln dinner ranged from 100 to $15,000.