James Duncan

James Duncan is a professional farrier who holds a master’s degree from St. John’s
College in Annapolis, Maryland. He lives in Versailles with his wife, an equine
veterinarian, and his two daughters, who attend elementary school in Woodford County.

Duncan said he is an originalist, grounded in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. He said he views his candidacy as a return to Reagan. He sees the Republican Party fracturing from the free-market and family-first values that he said should be the party’s cornerstones.

Here are the other local races with May primaries

The Republican candidates in the May 19 primary are: Andy Barr, Daniel Cameron, Anissa Catlett, James Duncan, Michael Faris, Valerie Fredrick, Jonathan Holliday, Jimmy Leon, Nate Morris, A. Nick Shelley, George Washington and Donald Wenzel.

Long-time incumbent Mitch McConnell is not seeking reelection.

Duncan said that Americans should be debt-free in their prime earning years. He wants to transform tax traps that incentivize debt into tax incentives that leverage a portion of someone’s pre-tax earnings toward major debt-trap categories: education, home and medical.

He said the goal of government is to create an environment where people can flourish. The litmus test for good policy, he said, should be: “Does work build wealth?” If someone is working and trapped from building wealth, then, he said, the government is not aligned with its rightful objective.

“America needs to transition from behemoth corporate subsidies that block free-market signals to supporting infrastructure that drives down input costs like electricity and fertilizer,” Duncan said. “Low input costs will re-shore jobs and are the holistic solution for the affordability crisis. Fighting for horses, bourbon, farms, and families means having comprehensive plans with implementation, such as driving down and stabilizing energy and fertilizer costs—not making vague promises.”