Kentucky’s most competitive race finally made it to the debate stage Thursday night, with Zach Dembo and Ralph Alvarado trading barbs, fact-checking each other’s talking points, and pitching policy ideas as they fight to represent Kentucky’s 6th Congressional District.
Kentucky’s 6th Congressional race typically isn’t all that feisty, but this fall’s battle for Rep. Andy Barr’s open seat has been particularly brutal as Democrats hope Dembo can flip the KY-06 seat while Republicans are betting on Alvarado to keep it in their control.
The district covers Lexington and parts of central Kentucky. On paper, it is pretty evenly split between Republicans and Democrats, with a sizable chunk of third-party voters, too.
Dembo and Alvarado initially weren’t going to debate at all ahead of the election, but arranged Thursday’s last-minute debate on FOX 56 as Kentucky’s 6th congressional race continues to intensify as the campaigns head down the final stretch.
Race predictors and the limited polling that has been made public in the race indicate the KY-06 seat, which started as a solidly red spot, is very much in play. Less than 12 hours after the debate, the nonpartisan Cook Political Report said they now consider the race to be a toss-up.
Countering the narrative (kind of)
Thanks to the competitiveness and national stakes of this election—a Dembo win could help Democrats take control of the House for the last two years of Trump’s term—millions in PAC money have been poured into attack ads hoping to influence KY-06 voters.
Much of the mudslinging and half-truths that have dominated central Kentucky’s airwaves were also a main character of Thursday’s debate, with candidates lobbing criticisms at their opponent while also getting chances to confront and correct the record.
Alvarado’s camp has tried to paint Dembo, a former federal prosecutor, as anti-cop and anti-law enforcement, largely due to a situation where a law enforcement officer Dembo prosecuted got acquitted. Dembo pushed back, noting he had a 95% conviction rate as a prosecutor and was not the sole person responsible for pushing forward with a case.
Some of the most common talking points used throughout the campaigns, though, didn’t really get a full rebuttal.
Throughout the debate, Alvarado tried to link Dembo to the Epstein files over the fact Reid Hoffman, who was in the Epstein files, gave money to a pro-Dembo PAC.
But PACs, by law, can’t coordinate with campaigns, and Alvarado has been heavily boosted by PACs affiliated with Trump and Elon Musk—both of whom are also in the Epstein files. Alvarado himself is also endorsed by Trump—connections Dembo did not directly make onstage.
Dembo, meanwhile, tried to tie Alvarado to former Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin, who picked Alvarado as his running mate for his 2019 reelection campaign after a first term fraught with fights with teachers, battles over pensions, and a number of moments leaving him at odds with both Republicans and Democrats.
Alvarado, then a state senator, has a well-documented history of supporting many of Bevin’s policies.
But there’s no proof that Alvarado had any knowledge of or role in the string of controversial pardons Bevin issued after losing reelection. Dembo argued that there’s also no proof Alvarado personally spoke out against the pardons at the time they were issued, and Dembo claimed that Alvarado only said something when it became politically convenient for him to do so.
The Senate GOP caucus, which Alvarado was in at the time, quickly condemned Bevin’s pardons when they happened in late 2019, and Alvarado voted to curb gubernatorial pardon powers every chance he could as a state senator.
Onstage Thursday night, Alvarado was not given an opportunity to directly condemn the pardons or counter his ties to Bevin.
Does Alvarado really not know how much groceries cost?
Beyond the candidates’ jabs that mirrored their attack ad messaging, the debate sprinted through key issues impacting central Kentucky, from grocery prices to affordable housing, with moderators demanding specific answers from each candidate.
One of the most memorable moments came early in the debate, when moderators asked both candidates to give an example of what their families are seeing at the grocery store.
When pressed, Alvarado stammered and said he wasn’t sure because his wife does a lot of the shopping. If he goes out, he said, people tend to come up to him and ask him to examine their kids’ ears since he’s a doctor, so he lets her handle that task. He rambled a bit about growing his own food before the moderator cut him off with no clear indication he could name the price of one grocery item.
Where would KY-06 candidates break with their party?
Some of the most illuminating responses came toward the end of the debate, when each candidate was asked where they’d break with their party if elected.
Dembo initially wasn’t sure, but ultimately picked former President Joe Biden’s handling of the Mexican border and said the country needs strong immigration policies.
Alvarado said he would support ending the Iran War—finally answering a question that has been asked of him repeatedly over the course of the campaign. He initially said he fully supported the war when it began in February, but said Thursday night he believes it has run its course.
Early voting in Kentucky runs from Oct. 29 to Oct. 31, with Election Day on Nov. 3.
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