Former Lexington councilman latest Kentucky Dem to launch campaign for Congress

Yahoo

2 days ago

Former Lexington councilman David Kloiber is the second Democrat to announce a bid to flip Kentucky's 6th Congressional District from red to blue next year.
Kloiber's plan is to bring 'common sense back to the Commonwealth' by emphasizing in Washington the importance of increasing access to affordable housing, alleviating high costs of health care, creating jobs and providing quality public education.
'Common sense means I'm focused on the core issues that impact people day-to-day,' Kloiber told the Herald-Leader ahead of his Wednesday morning launch. '... We need someone who is going to take our community's issues to Washington instead of the other way around and bringing Washington's rhetoric here.'
Kloiber previously represented District 6 on the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council from 2020 until 2022. That district includes neighborhoods in the city's Winchester Road corridor, Hamburg area and parts of Bryan Station. He's a Lexington native and graduate of Lexington Catholic High School and the University of Kentucky.
In 2022, he ran an unsuccessful mayoral campaign against incumbent Linda Gorton who is now in her second term. Gorton received 71% of the vote. Kloiber took second with 29%.
During that race, Kloiber gave $630,000 of his own money to his campaign, much of which came from loans from his family's generational wealth and a trust in his name. Just before Election Day that year, Kloiber had raised $644,055 and Gorton had raised $152,860.
In conceding, Kloiber said, 'The biggest thing has always been name recognition, just to show people that there's an alternative. Now, it's all about reaching out, making those connections, and letting people know what it would mean to vote for somebody else.'
During his run for mayor, Kloiber had a similar lineup of ideas to his current run for Congress. He's said then and now the city and area lacks appropriate workforce development infrastructure like job training facilities, housing close to where people work and good schools in every neighborhood.
'All politics is local,' Kloiber said. 'And too often we get caught up in national things that might not even impact us.'
The former councilman runs the Kloiber Foundation, a nonprofit providing students and teachers in Fayette County Public Schools and surrounding counties with necessary technology. Outside of that, Kloiber said he has a leadership role in an investment management firm that has bankrolled new factories, upgrades to cattle ranches, hotel renovations and helped tech companies get their start.
'I know everyone has their own reasons for being here today, but my reasons are very simple,' Kloiber said during his campaign launch speech Wednesday at Elite Printing. 'They're the same ones that have driven me to do everything I've done in my life and that's make sure the place I live is the best it can be for my kids, my family and my community.
'I'm driven to ensure that every tomorrow shows more opportunities than every today.'
He said if he wins the seat, he would pull from previous job creation experience to get more Kentuckians well paying work that is compatible to the area. Everything else part of his 'core pillar,' like housing access and curbing the costs of prescriptions, would hopefully fall in line once the jobs come, he said.
During his campaign launch Wednesday, Kloiber said in Congress, the 'small caucuses being able to make a large impact by figuring out where and when their votes matter' makes all the difference and is what will 'allow us to get those results-driven policies that we need here in Kentucky.'
Kloiber's announcement rings similar to early campaigning from the other Democrat in the race, former Lexington state representative Cherlynn Stevenson.
'I want to follow that blueprint,' said Kloiber of the way Gov. Andy Beshear has redefined what it means to be a Democrat leading what's an otherwise Republican state.
Andy Barr, the longtime congressman, has held onto the 6th District seat since 2013. Since a close three-point victory in 2018 over Democrat Amy McGrath, he has won his last three elections by an average of 24 percentage points. President Donald Trump won the district by about 15 percentage points in the last election.
But as Kloiber pointed out — and is hoping will help his own campaign — Beshear previously won the district by about 20 percentage points.
Kloiber said he would spend the next few summer months 'traveling the district, hearing from residents and incorporating their experiences, their problems and their solutions into a comprehensive, common sense plan that's going to put people ahead of politics.'
'I think that up until very recently, he [Barr] really did reach out and try to appeal to those common issues,' Kloiber said during his launch. 'Now, I can't speak for what he's doing in his run for Senate, but I think that by reaching out to voters where they are on the issues they care about, that's the key to success.'
Kloiber's name has been floated to fill the seat after a leading campaign committee for U.S. House Democrats said Kentucky's 6th Congressional District was back in play for the party.
On Tuesday, nonpartisan election predictor Sabato's Crystal Ball shifted its rating for the seat from 'safe Republican' to 'likely Republican' as more Democrats show interest in the seat and due in part to the passage of cuts to Medicaid and food assistance programs likely to impact how voters decide who represents them.
The Herald-Leader previously reported Kentucky Democratic Party Executive Director Morgan Eaves has not denied interest in the job. Party chair Colmon Elridge has also been mentioned as a potential candidate. Federal prosecutor Zach Dembo and former secretary of state Allison Lundergan Grimes have also been mentioned.
State Rep. Ryan Dotson, R-Winchester, has announced he's running for the seat.
Republicans who could also be contenders include other state legislators like: Sen. Amanda Mays Bledsoe, R-Lexington; Rep. Deanna Gordon, R-Richmond; Rep. Matt Lockett, R-Nicholasville; and Sen. Donald Douglas, R-Nicholasville.