Retired coal company executive Mike Templeman, who stepped down from his post as CEO of Energy Coal Resources last fall, filed to take on Rep. Ben Chandler (D) in the Lexington-based 6th district.

Templeman, 62, is a former state trooper who has worked in the coal and natural gas industry as well as commercial development. He stressed his business credentials in his Tuesday announcement.

“I am running because it’s time we get America back to work,— Templeman said. “I don’t see a candidate in this field — including the incumbent — who has the business experience necessary to get the federal government out of the way of the small-business community, America’s job creation engine.—

Templeman’s entry into the race comes a day after the National Republican Congressional Committee announced that attorney Andy Barr has been accepted into the committee’s “Young Guns— candidate fundraising and infrastructure program. Barr is a one-time deputy general counsel to former Kentucky Gov. Ernie Fletcher (R) who now works for the Lexington-based law firm Kinkead & Stilz. He raised just less than $120,000 during the fourth quarter of 2009 for his Congressional bid.

Four other Republicans are also seeking the nomination.