Kentucky Republican Convention held Saturday at Somerset's Center for Rural Development

May 20—Kentuckians may not officially elect a Republican presidential candidate until polls close on Tuesday, but the Kentucky GOP has already chosen the delegates who will be representing the commonwealth in the Republican National Convention in July.

GOP members from around the state held the Kentucky Republican Convention at the Center for Rural Development in Somerset on Saturday.

Twenty-five delegates and 25 alternates were agreed upon by around 411 county delegates from all six congressional districts.

As of press time Monday, the full list of delegates was not available, but notable names include Senator Rand Paul, State Speaker of the House David Osborne, State Senator Robby Mills, Kentucky House Speaker Pro Tem David Meade, State Representative Nancy Tate and State Representative John Hodgson.

Attendees to the state convention, held within the Fifth Congressional District, were welcomed by Fifth District Congressman and Dean of the U.S. House of Representatives Hal Rogers, who made his presidential endorsement known.

"I'm here for one purpose. That's to elect Donald Trump as our next president," Rogers said, to thunderous applause from fellow Republicans.

Rogers went on to say, "This convention is a reflection of a confident commonwealth who sends warriors to the front lines to battle for our communities and a stronger nation, so thank you for all of your work over the years, leading up to today.

"... The time is now to pull out all the stops," Rogers said. "We must send President Trump back to the White House, take back the senate, expand our majority in the U.S. House, and ensure our trusted leaders have our full support in the Kentucky General Assembly. So let's get to work."

Rogers spoke extensively in praise of U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, whom Rogers said he was proud of for bringing a bill to help secure arms and ammunition for Israel to the floor of the House, "not knowing whether or not he had the votes."

That bill passed, and President Joe Biden told the public last week that he intends to move forward with the sale of arms to Israel.

The Biden Administration previously had halted the sale of weapons to Israel citing concerns for civilian casualties in Gaza, according to the Associated Press.

Sixth District Congressman Andy Barr, who is also the state chair for the Donald J. Trump election campaign, referred to that action during his remarks at the state convention.

Barr stated that Biden had "turned his back on our ally, Israel, withholding arms that congress has authorized to send, so that the Israeli defense forces can finish the job and defeat Hamas.

"President Trump stands with Israel," Barr continued. "We stand with Israel, and we need to expose this president's shameful record of turning his back on our allies."

During his remarks, Rogers told the crowd that he felt the country needed more unity because the current administration "has emboldened our enemies in Russia, China, Iran, the Middle East, and others."

Barr also stated he saw other issues with the current administration, such as policies that have allowed "a wide-open southern border that is making the American people unsafe."

He said that he wanted to see Trump-era policies on border control reinstated.

He and Rogers also urged Republicans across the country to widen the "slim majority" of Republican seats in the U.S. House of Representatives.

As Barr put it, in the upcoming elections there would likely be 210 confirmed Republican seats, 203 confirmed Democratic seats, and 22 "toss-ups."

"Donald Trump wining at the top of the ticket helps us in those 22 battleground states, and as speaker Johnson says, if we just picked up half of those, that would be a lot bigger margin than what we have now."

The Kentucky State Convention opened with a prayer from District 85 State Representative Shane Baker, as well as the Pledge of Allegiance and a welcome address from Somerset Mayor Alan Keck.

"It's exciting to be in a room with fellow Republicans in my hometown, in my home community," said Keck, a former Republican candidate for governor. "I'm also reminded of many different lessons throughout scripture about being stronger when we're unified. We're stronger when we're together. ... We are on the same team, folks. When I think of the enemy, I think of poverty, or drug abuse, or the things that are vilifying our families. I think of those that are lost that might not be in church tomorrow morning. I don't think of somebody necessarily in our own party or another."

Carla Slavey can be reached at cslavey@somerset-kentucky.com