By Kevin Erpenbeck and Marjorie Kirk

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Andy Barr will serve another term as a member of the House of Representatives, as the Republican incumbent won the 2014 Kentucky 6th congressional district election.

Barr beat out Democratic candidate Elisabeth Jensen by more than 40,000 votes.

“Tonight is a victory for those who want to send a message to the government,” Barr said during his victory speech. “It’s a victory for those who want to fight for the people instead of big governments, and I am honored to continue as your congressman and make sure Washington hears the proud voice of the people of central and eastern Kentucky.”

Cheers were heard in the Republican’s victory room when Barr was announced the winner of the 6th district by the media. Kentucky’s 45th district House member Stan Lee expressed his joy for Barr’s victory and other Republican victories throughout the day, saying it was a great day for the state of Kentucky and another step toward change for the country.

“We’ve been going the wrong way for the last five or six years now, and you don’t have to be a Republican or Democrat to see that,” Lee said. “Andy is always advancing needed legislation for our state, and sometimes you have to run things up the flagpole several times to get people used to what you’re doing. We’re a conservative state and we’re trending to a more conservative viewpoint.”

The win gives Barr a second term in the House, as he won the Kentucky 6th district House seat in 2012 when he beat out then-incumbent Ben Chandler.

Some of Barr’s biggest points of emphasis during his campaign have been job creation in several Kentucky counties, ending the state’s “war on coal” by getting the Keystone XL Pipeline proposal approved in Washington as a “new energy renaissance,” and being an opponent of Obamacare.

Barr has also focused his attention specifically on college students and recent graduates, creating new jobs in what he calls a “damaged labor market” and lowering student loan interest rates.

“Access to credit is very important for young entrepreneurs when they get out of colleges like UK,” Barr said. “We’re going to continue to advocate for students. They need to be able to get jobs in a healthy labor market so they can pay off their student loans in a healthy economy.

Jensen, a first-time runner in the state’s 6th district congressional race, alluded to Barr’s financial backing of his campaign as a major factor in his win.

“We got outspent four to one and that’s the only reason we didn’t win this race,” Jensen said. “I am not giving up the fight. I planned on this being a four-year run because this was my first race. There were a lot of people who didn’t know who I was, who didn’t know what I stand for.”