Republican Ralph Alvarado and Democrat Zach Dembo, candidates in Kentucky’s 6th Congressional District, have agreed to a televised debate scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 22, at 7 p.m. EST on Fox56 in Lexington. The debate is 12 days before Election Day, which is Tuesday, Nov. 3.
Alvarado’s campaign manager, Andy Westberry, noted that Alvarado has conflicting events scheduled during a rally in the 4th Congressional District as part of the Court Day Festival in Mt. Sterling, including long-standing commitments and speaking roles at GOP events with supporters from breakfast until evening.
The current seatholder in the 6th Congressional District, Republican U.S. Rep. Andy Barr, has been invited to speak at the rally as he runs for U.S. Senate. In a Thursday morning gaggle with reporters, Barr said it would be fair to call the 6th “a toss-up.”
Alvarado has been campaigning with other top Republicans at campaign fundraisers, like House Speaker Mike Johnson and Ohio U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan.
Barr questioned the other side, pushing back at Dembo and Gov. Andy Beshear for trying “to make this race about a former governor,” referring to former Republican Gov. Matt Bevin, who was controversial throughout his time in office. Alvarado was Bevin’s running mate in the 2019 election, which he lost to Beshear.
Barr said, “That former governor is not on the ballot, but you know who is on the ballot? Hakeem Jeffries, Nancy Pelosi, Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, those people are on the ballot because if Zach Dembo were to win that district in central Kentucky, he would enable them. So this is not about some former governor who’s not on the ballot, but it is about the radical socialists in the United States Congress who would be empowered by a Congressman Dembo. They will be resisted by a Congressman Ralph Alvarado.”
Beshear appeared in an ad with Dembo from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee last week poking fun at a cardboard cutout of Bevin. The governor later said in a press conference that “I’m not the one trying to tie Ralph Alvarado to Bevin; Ralph Alvarado tied himself to Matt Bevin.”
Dembo’s campaign is not the only one playing offense. A former state trooper, Derrek Lovett, penned an op-ed criticizing how Dembo handled a case against Lovett that appeared in the Washington Reporter, which offers center-right coverage. In 2024, a federal court jury acquitted two former Kentucky State Police officers, including Lovett, accused in an excessive force case over alleged arson at one of the police officer’s homes. Dembo was one of the federal prosecutors on the case.
Lovett spoke with reporters following an August press conference where Alvarado accepted the endorsement of the Kentucky Fraternal Order of Police.
At this point in the race, there has been no public independent polling. The DCCC released an internal poll Wednesday that showed Dembo leading Alvarado 46% to 40%. Third party candidates had 6% combined support and 8% were undecided. The poll surveyed 606 likely voters and had a margin of error of 4%.
Leading race raters still predict an Alvarado win, though they have been moving the outcome of the race in Dembo’s favor. Sabato’s Crystal Ball and the Cook Political Report rate the race as leaning Republican.
