Daniel Cameron US Senate

By Austin Horn
Lexington Herald-Leader

(Lexington Herald-Leader) Nearly a year into the race to replace Sen. Mitch McConnell, GOP candidate Daniel Cameron’s campaign is making a big change at the top.

The current campaign manager, Taylor Zanazzi, is leaving to join another campaign, both Zanazzi and the Cameron campaign confirmed to the Herald-Leader. Zanazzi said he submitted his resignation Tuesday, Dec. 2 and will fully transition off the team by the end of the month.

Zanazzi’s replacement is Nathanael Hirt, who recently led Virginia Republican attorney general candidate Jason Miyares’ campaign this fall.

Cameron, a former Kentucky attorney general who unsuccessfully ran for governor in 2023, has been leading in all publicly available polls of the 2026 GOP primary field over other prominent candidates, including U.S. Rep. Andy Barr and Lexington tech entrepreneur Nate Morris.

However, Cameron is lagging behind the others in the fundraising race.

Barr ended the most recent financial quarter, ending Sep. 30, with nearly $6.7 million on hand; Morris, who has the ability to self-fund, had $1.1 million at that point; Cameron had only $630,000 on hand at the time.

Zanazzi told the Herald-Leader in a brief interview that the split was amicable. In a statement, he thanked Cameron and his wife, Makenze, and predicted Cameron will win.

“I’m grateful to Makenze and Daniel for the opportunity to serve. I look forward to what’s ahead and have no doubt Daniel Cameron will be the next U.S. Senator from Kentucky,” Zanazzi wrote.

Prior to joining Cameron’s campaign in April, Zanazzi had run two GOP congressional campaigns.

Cameron thanked Zanazzi for his work “during a critical phase of this race” and expressed excitement for Hirt in a statement provided by the campaign.

Daniel Cameron US Senate

“Nathanael brings strong leadership, strategic focus, and deep dedication to our mission. We’re thrilled to have him guiding the team as we move into the next phase of this campaign,” Cameron wrote.

Hirt just finished up leading one of the nation’s most closely-watched campaigns.

Miyares, the incumbent, lost to Democratic candidate Jay Jones, who became embroiled in controversy after his messages advocating violence against GOP colleagues surfaced, by about two percentage points.

Though Miyares lost, he outperformed the GOP gubernatorial candidate, who lost to Virginia Democratic Governor-Elect Abigail Spanberger by 13.5 points.

“I’m honored to step into this role and excited for the work ahead. We have a tremendous opportunity to share our message to put America First and win this race. I’m grateful for the team’s confidence and ready to hit the ground running to help lead this campaign to victory,” Hirt said in a statement provided by Cameron’s campaign.

The field for U.S. Senate has ballooned in recent months. On the GOP side, Michael Faris of Elizabethtown is running a vigorous campaign alongside the other three candidates.

Democrats in the race include familiar names like former statewide candidates Charles Booker, Amy McGrath and state House Minority Floor Leader Pam Stevenson, D-Louisville, alongside newer candidates running legitimate campaigns like Louisville horse trainer Dale Romans, Lexington attorney Logan Forsythe and Louisville entrepreneur Joel Willett.