Kentucky Republicans waiting to see U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell put his arm around his political nemesis Matt Bevin will have to wait a little longer.
Bevin canceled an appearance at the Elizabethtown Rotary Club on Tuesday where McConnell, the Senate majority leader, was the scheduled speaker. And McConnell has said he will not attend the state Republican Party's Lincoln Day dinner on Saturday when Bevin will be the featured speaker.
The absences seem to highlight a tense relationship between the state's senior senator and its likely Republican nominee for governor one year after McConnell defeated Bevin in the Senate primary.
A spokesman for Bevin said a scheduling conflict forced him to change his schedule. McConnell said he has to return to Washington on Saturday to prepare for a rare Sunday session to vote on the Patriot Act. Mitch McConnell says he expects to maintain but not grow the U.S. Senate's Republican majority next year.
Meanwhile, the Senate majority leader said Tuesday the GOP's chances of gaining seats are "pretty slim" because Republicans must defend 24 seats compared to the Democrats' 10. Plus, Republicans will field candidates in several states dominated by the presidential election, including New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Wisconsin and Illinois. He said Republicans "regretfully" have an open seat in Florida because Marco Rubio is running for president and not re-election at the same time, as McConnell's fellow Kentuckian Rand Paul plans to do.
McConnell told the Elizabethtown Rotary Club that Republicans have a chance to gain seats in Nevada, where Sen. Harry Reid is not seeking re-election, and Colorado where Republicans defeated an incumbent last year.