Rep. Ryan Dotson enters Kentucky's 6th Congressional District race
Rep. Ryan Dotson (R) officially announced his candidacy Tuesday night at a campaign event in Winchester.
Dotson is no stranger to politics, currently serving District 73 in Frankfort. Dotson told FOX 56 that he believes his success at the state level would translate well in Washington.
'Save women's sports passed in the state of Kentucky,' said Dotson. 'I authored and got that bill passed. It is now a law. I protected property rights. I was a big part of helping to lower state income taxes.'
Now, Dotson is entering the race for Andy Barr's 6th congressional district seat. As a veteran, businessman, and longtime pastor, Dotson said he is someone everyday people can trust.
'A good shepherd smells like the sheep,' he said. 'And so when you live among the people and you dwell among the people, work among the people, do business, and when people know you, they trust you. And I believe you're able to lead because they see you as one of them.'
Read more of the latest Lexington & central Kentucky news
While the seat has been held by a Republican since 2012, Democratic candidate Cherlynn Stevenson said she's determined to flip the seat in the next election cycle.
'If I can get out there and meet all the people, just have those one-on-one conversations, we can block out all of that noise,' said Stevenson. 'And that's what it is. It's just noise. It's meant to divide. I have my head down. I'm focused on the people of the sixth district, and we're going to win this race.'
Dotson is confident that it won't happen.
'This was a plus 25 for Andy Barr back in November,' he said. 'This was a plus 15 for Donald J. Trump back in November. This is not going to be flipped.'
The Kentucky Democratic Party released a statement today criticizing Dotson's time in the legislature.
'Ryan Dotson has spent his time in the General Assembly trying to make life harder for Kentucky families, prioritizing divisiveness while advocating to cut food assistance for our children, take money from our public schools, roll back regulations that keep our workers safe and make it harder for families to find affordable housing,' stated Kentucky Democratic Party Chair Colmon Elridge. 'Dotson's candidacy is yet another example of Republicans trying to fail up while failing their constituents in the process.'
How county officials put together a budget: A deep dive into Garrard County
Rep. Ryan Dotson enters Kentucky's 6th Congressional District race
Kentucky veteran nonprofit founder seeking presidential pardon after delayed release
But Dotson remains steadfast in his decision to run, promising to fight for trade school funding and border security and to always put the American people first.
'Shrinking government control and giving the government back to the people,' he said.
More candidates from both parties are expected to enter the race in the coming weeks.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
16 minutes ago
- Yahoo
MLB, ESPN reportedly reach agreement for network to obtain rights to sell out-of-market games, ability to offer MLB.TV
ESPN and MLB are reportedly close to an agreement that would allow the network to carry and the rights to all out-of-market baseball games — and select in-market baseball games — according to Andrew Marchand of The Athletic. The reported deal, which has not been signed yet, would give ESPN the ability to offer to fans as part of the network's newly-launched direct-to-consumer streaming service. ESPN officially announced that service Thursday. It's unclear exactly if — or how — the agreement will change how fans currently access per Marchand. But the network could require fans to have an ESPN direct-to-consumer subscription to get access to From The Athletic: It is not fully clear yet if out-of-market subscribers who pay for the package through cable or other linear subscription would still be able to receive that way. For digital consumers, fans are likely to need an ESPN direct-to-consumer subscription to go along with The overall new pricing for is not yet decided. In addition to that, ESPN would also obtain the rights to every out-of-network MLB game. That's essentially what already provides to customers, as the service offers out-of-network games to fans. But it would also presumably allow ESPN to sell rights for certain out-of-network games to other networks or subscription services. Events such as the Home Run Derby or "Sunday Night Baseball" could be sold to other networks by ESPN, which has previously held broadcast rights for those events. The network could also presumably sell any random out-of-market game to, as an example, Apple TV+. It's unclear if that's what the network has in mind if the deal goes through. ESPN is still expected to broadcast roughly 30 regular-season games per year, according to Marchand. Those games would presumably be available on the network, and not exclusive to its direct-to-consumer offering. As part of the deal, ESPN will also control in-network games for five MLB teams: the Cleveland Guardians, San Diego Padres, Minnesota Twins, Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies. Local fans who want to watch those teams would likely have to go through ESPN's direct-to-consumer service. In addition to owning a subscription to that service — which costs $29.99 per month — the network could charge in-network consumers an additional fee to watch their favorite team's games. The reported agreement comes after a months-long feud between MLB commissioner Rob Manfred and ESPN. In February, ESPN decided to opt out of its partnership with the league following the 2025 MLB season. Manfred ripped the network a month later, saying he felt the league was "being treated disrespectfully" by ESPN. It appears those issues are now water under the bridge if Thursday's reported agreement comes to pass. Should the agreement go through, it would reportedly last for three years, per Marchand. MLB reportedly wants all of its broadcast rights to expire in 2029, allowing it to make a massive payday by auctioning off those rights to the highest bidder or bidders.
Associated Press
16 minutes ago
- Associated Press
Radiant First Developer to Sign DOE Contract for HALEU Fuel, on Track for Test Next Spring
Radiant scheduled to be the first to test a new reactor design at Demonstration of Microreactor Experiments (DOME) facility EL SEGUNDO, CALIFORNIA / ACCESS Newswire / August 21, 2025 / Radiant, the company pioneering the world's first portable, mass-produced nuclear microreactor, announced today it has officially signed a contract with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to receive High-Assay Low-Enriched Uranium (HALEU) and U.S. Department of Energy sign HALEU fuel contract Radiant and U.S. Department of Energy sign HALEU fuel contract The agreement follows the DOE's April 9th announcement naming five HALEU awardees. Each awardee still needed to successfully negotiate a contract to receive HALEU. Radiant is the first to finalize such an agreement. Over the past couple of months, Radiant worked closely with DOE and other federal and private partners to negotiate specific terms and conditions. 'This agreement means the HALEU fuel can now officially be transferred, which keeps us on schedule to begin testing our Kaleidos Demonstration Unit at the DOME facility next year,' said Dr. Rita Baranwal, Chief Nuclear Officer at Radiant. 'It also keeps the country on track to deliver on the President's four executive orders signed in May to unleash America's energy independence and innovation.' Radiant is scheduled to be first to test a new reactor design at the National Reactor Innovation Center DOME facility next spring - marking the first test of a U.S.-designed advanced reactor at Idaho National Laboratory in almost 50 years. With this fuel agreement in place, Radiant continues to lead the field in delivering flexible, advanced nuclear technology to power American energy independence and national security. For more information on Radiant, visit About Radiant Radiant is building the world's first mass-produced nuclear microreactors that can go anywhere they're needed, whenever they're needed and without constant refueling. The company's first reactor, Kaleidos, is a 1 MW failsafe microreactor that can be transported anywhere power is needed. Founded in 2020, Radiant plans to test its first reactor in 2026, with initial customer deployments beginning in 2028. Radiant's mission is to mass produce the most economical and reliable portable reactors. Contact InformationRay Wert SOURCE: Radiant Industries, Incorporated press release
Axios
18 minutes ago
- Axios
What historians say is at risk if Trump expands his culture war beyond Smithsonian
Politics & Policy A White House official told Axios that President Trump intends to expand his review of American museums for "woke" ideology beyond the Smithsonian Institution. Why it matters: The size and scope of Trump's inquiries represents an unprecedented level of museum oversight in the nearly 250 years of American democracy, historians say. It also represents an escalation of the president's attack on cultural institutions. Here's what historians and curators fear could happen if Trump reframes museums through his perspective. What exactly does the president have in mind? Trump said that the "Smithsonian is OUT OF CONTROL" on Truth Social earlier this week. He then directed his attorneys to conduct a comprehensive review of the museum system, similar to the process officials have conducted at colleges and universities. What they're saying:"President Trump will explore all options and avenues to get the Woke out of the Smithsonian and hold them accountable," a White House official told Axios. "He will start with the Smithsonian and then go from there," they continued. Reality check: The Smithsonian is not a federal agency under control of the president, according to the institution. It's an independent institution, governed by a Board of Regents, which is composed of seventeen members, including the Vice President. Trump has no authority over private museums. Yes, but: The president could freeze the federal funding that some private museums receive, the way he has for schools that don't align with his anti-diversity views on education. What does Trump's perception of American history look like? Trump claims that there has been a "widespread effort to rewrite our Nation's history" over the past decade. He insists that these efforts "undermine" America's achievements by casting its founding principles as "inherently racist, sexist, oppressive, or otherwise irredeemably flawed." Historians say the administration's singular, sanitized approach to the past, focusing solely on America's positive moments misses out on the nuance of American history and excludes the lived experiences of Black, Indigenous, Latino, and LGBTQ+ people. Friction point:"That is anti-democratic," Beth English, executive director of the Organization of American Historians told Axios, referring to the administration's push to stifle and sanitize information, debate and historical facts. "It's not education, right?" English questioned. "It begins to kind of veer into the space of indoctrination, selecting, sort of a selective memory of what is and isn't going to be part of our national story." Why is Trump's push to install political appointees to review museums problematic? Curators said distilling history into accurate, engaging examples that the public can understand requires a level of expertise that an untrained political appointee likely lacks. The majority of curators at national museums have PhDs, or have been trained in museum studies through rigorous degree programs and research. "It's not like people are creating exhibitions to tell a story, to win a political agenda," Omar Eaton-Martinez, former board president of the Association of African American Museums said. "People are actually curating exhibitions based on scholarship that is supported by evidence," he continued. Don't museums reframe and reevaluate history all the time? Historians say museums expanding their collections isn't evidence of nefarious behavior, but rather, it's simply how the static nature of history grows. Zoom out: Collections have increasingly included the perspectives of sociologists, psychologists and other social scientists over the past few decades, in addition to more thorough reviews of census records, genealogy, oral histories, archeology, objects, and images. "We're constantly building on prior scholarship to help ask more nuanced questions about a topic," Sarah Weicksel, executive director of the American Historical Association said. "We're always peeling back the layers of the onion, so to speak." Black, Indigenous and Latin scholars have been digging into their respective histories for centuries, and those experiences have been recognized and incorporated into museums in recent decades. That includes history that was once ignored, such as the burning of records in thriving Black neighborhoods such as the massacres in Tulsa, Oklahoma or Rosewood, Florida; the forced removal of Indigenous nations from one part of America to another during the " trail of tears"; and urban renewal projects to upgrade cities that ultimately gentrify communities of color. What funding and programs has Trump already taken aim at? The Trump administration has taken aggressive action to reduce the staffing and funding available for the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS,) the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Stunning stat: IMLS's acting director testified in court that the administration cancelled roughly 92% of the agency's Grants to States. Only 100 grants remain out of the original 1,200 managed by the institute prior to Trump's executive order. The president also attempted to fire Kim Sajet, the director of the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery, earlier this year due to her support of diversity initiatives, despite not having the authority to do so. The Smithsonian has legal authority over personnel decisions, but Sajet eventually decided to step down in the weeks following Trump's announcement. What other times has an American museum pivoted after political influence? An exorbitant amount of debate goes into exhibit decision-making, so museums have already determined the best way to display potential controversies. When museums modify exhibits, it's typically due to public pressure, and has never been under significant force from the president. Case in point: The Smithsonian's 90s exhibit on Enola Gay, the B-29 bomber that dropped the atomic bomb, sparked opposition from veterans and members of Congress on how to interpret the bomb's dropping and America's role in World War II. The bottom line:"These kinds of controversies exist frequently, and that's a good thing, because public debate about the nation's past is healthy," James Grossman, former executive director of the American Historical Association told Axios. "But the President of the United States has no business telling museums what to exhibit, telling teachers what to teach, and has no business telling Americans what to think," Grossman continued.
