With less than two months until Election Day, political action committees tied to President Donald Trump and Gov. Andy Beshear are each dropping thousands on ads in hopes of swaying central Kentucky voters.
Why? Kentucky’s 6th Congressional District race—which covers Lexington and central Kentucky—is seen as a seat Democrats could potentially flip out of Republican control as part of a larger push to take back control of the House for the second half of Trump’s term.
On the Democrats’ side, Beshear’s PAC, In This Together, has spent $250,000 on ads bashing Republican Ralph Alvarado for allegedly having former Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin’s back as the latter issued dozens of controversial pardons after losing reelection in 2019, including pardons for individuals convicted of child rape and murder.
Alvarado was Bevin’s running mate during his reelection bid in 2019, but the duo lost to Beshear. Alvarado has maintained he wasn’t involved in Bevin’s pardons, and legislative records show he voted in favor of a Republican-backed constitutional amendment to block future governors from issuing similar pardons both times he could as a state senator.
(After several attempts, Kentucky’s Republican-dominated state legislature passed the aforementioned constitutional amendment, with Kentucky voters having the final say over limiting governors’ pardoning power this fall.)
“Here’s the truth: I, along with the Senate Majority Caucus in Frankfort, condemned Matt Bevin’s grotesque pardons and opposed them publicly and in the strongest possible terms when they happened,” Alvarado said in a recent statement.
Meanwhile, Trump’s new PAC—No Going Back—is spending millions in what it considers to be key races across the country in an attempt to prevent the House from flipping—including a chunk of cash in Kentucky’s 6th Congressional District.
Reports signal the PAC has allocated $536,000—more than double what Beshear’s PAC is spending—for ads in Kentucky’s 6th Congressional District. But it is unclear what those ads could look like just yet.
Alvarado snagged Trump’s endorsement in May—an endorsement he says he’s proud of, despite scrubbing his campaign website of all but one reference to Trump in August.
Kentucky’s 6th Congressional District is considered a likely Republican win, given that current Republican Rep. Andy Barr has managed to hold onto the seat over the last decade.
Election Day is Nov. 3, with Kentucky’s no-excuse, in-person early voting running from Oct. 29 to Oct. 31.
