Alvarado, Kentucky's first Hispanic state legislator, echoes Trump in launching a congressional bid
Alvarado, a medical doctor and the son of immigrants, will compete for Kentucky's 6th Congressional District seat now occupied by Republican Rep. Andy Barr, who is in a hotly contested race to succeed Sen. Mitch McConnell, the former longtime Republican Senate leader, in next next year's midterm election.
Seen as a rising conservative star during his years in the Kentucky Senate, Alvarado pledged to align with President Donald Trump's 'America First' agenda as he kicked off his congressional campaign.
'Kentuckians are fed up with open borders, sky-high prices and unelected bureaucrats who trample our freedoms,' Alvarado said in a statement. 'I'm running for Congress to fight for working families, stop the invasion at our southern border once and for all, and fight the woke agenda.'
Republican state Reps. Ryan Dotson and Deanna Gordon entered the House race earlier, also touting their conservative credentials and setting up the prospect of a competitive primary next spring.
The Democratic field also grew Thursday, with former federal prosecutor Zach Dembo entering the campaign. Dembo, also a former policy adviser for Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, said his focus will include creating good-paying jobs, fighting back against Medicaid cuts and opposing tariffs that he said are hurting crucial Kentucky industries.
'Central Kentucky deserves to have a representative in Washington who stands up for families, works to lower their cost of living, expands access to affordable healthcare and protects their safety," Dembo said in a statement.
National Democrats list Kentucky's 6th among dozens of districts nationally that they're targeting in hopes of winning back the narrowly divided House in 2026. Other Democratic candidates for the Kentucky congressional seat include ex-state Rep. Cherlynn Stevenson and David Kloiber, a former Lexington city councilman.
Alvarado's campaign said he preserved his Kentucky ties while working in Tennessee, noting that he maintained his longtime home in Clark County in the district and continued to do medical work in the district. He typically returned home multiple times each month.
He was the first Hispanic member of Kentucky's legislature, his campaign said, having been first elected in 2014. He has said his immigrant parents made big sacrifices to get him a good education. His father was from Costa Rica, and his mother is from Argentina.
Alvarado ran for statewide office in Kentucky as then-Gov. Matt Bevin's running mate in 2019, but Bevin lost his reelection bid to Beshear. Alvarado left the Kentucky Senate to step into the role as Tennessee's health department commissioner in Republican Gov. Bill Lee's administration in 2023.
Lee last week announced Alvarado's departure from the state health department, saying Alvarado 'faithfully served Tennesseans throughout his tenure.'
Alvarado's role in promoting Bevin during the 2019 campaign could surface as an issue in next year's congressional race as Bevin's pugnacious style turned off many Kentucky voters.
The 6th District stretches from central Kentucky's bluegrass region to the Appalachian foothills. It flipped between Democratic and Republican representation for decades, but Barr has locked down the seat for the GOP for more than a decade, fending off a tough Democratic challenger in 2018.
Since then, the GOP-led legislature removed Democratic-leaning Frankfort, Kentucky's capital city, from the 6th District during the most recent round of redistricting, seemingly making it a steeper challenge for Democrats. The district includes Democratic-trending Lexington, the state's second-largest city, and covers multiple rural counties that are Republican strongholds.
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Newsweek
28 minutes ago
- Newsweek
Donald Trump's Disapproval Rating Jumps: Honeymoon 'Has Gone'
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The Hill
28 minutes ago
- The Hill
Whole Hog Politics: Senate primaries take shape, adding a glimmer of hope for Dems
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Todd Hunter, R-Corpus Christi, will likely change before the final map is approved by both chambers and signed by Gov. Greg Abbott. Democrats have said they might try to thwart the process by fleeing the state. This unusual mid-decade redistricting comes after a pressure campaign waged by President Donald Trump 's political team in the hopes of padding Republicans' narrow majority in the U.S. House. Currently, Republicans hold 25 of Texas' 38 House seats. Trump carried 27 of those districts in 2024, including those won by Democratic U.S. Reps. Henry Cuellar of Laredo and Vicente Gonzalez of McAllen.' Newsom vowed reprisal, but California law makes it tricky: San Francisco Chronicle: 'To counter Texas redistricting, Gov. Gavin Newsom faces a tight timeline to convince lawmakers to act. But many won't even say where they stand on the issue. Newsom first raised the prospect of redrawing California's congressional maps in favor of Democrats three weeks ago as Texas Gov. 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In a letter dated Tuesday and addressed to OSC senior counsel Charles Baldis, the senators pointed to President Trump's July 15 remarks from the White House, when he addressed Texas's redistricting push and 'stated that the purpose of the effort is to draw new district lines where 'I think we'll get five' Republican House seats to replace current Democratic members of Congress.' The lawmakers also pointed to reporting that senior administration officials met with Texas House Republicans 'to discuss a White House push to redraw its congressional map ahead of the midterms,' according to the letter.' SHORT ORDER Democrats retake lead on partisan affiliation — Gallup After shooter's rampage, Mamdani tries to reframe 2020 claim that the NYPD was 'racist, anti-queer & a major threat to public safety.' — NYT Nadler draws heat from 26-year-old primary challenger — The Hill Voters say Republicans and Democrats can't agree on basic facts — Pew Research Center Kamala Harris passes on California governor bid — The Hill Exit strategy: Hegseth said to be exploring run for office in Tennessee — NBC News TABLE TALK: COMING TO A CAMPAIGN AD NEAR YOU 'But, in a way, it is a backdoor for privatizing Social Security.' — Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent speaking at an event hosted by MAGA outlet Breitbart about the government savings accounts for kids created by the Trump budget bill. MAILBAG ' Great analysis, Chris, though you were on another well deserved holiday as you were MIA on your Sunday show on NewsNation. Oh, I hope [ Eliana Johnson ] is doing well, has she delivered? We look forward to the [Ink Stained] Wretches back together. Again welcome back and I hope you all are enjoying the dog days of August.' — Helen Camba, Falls Church, Va. Ms. Camba, I was about to take issue with the 'another' bit about my holidays, when I realized that I have, indeed, been away quite a bit this year — at least by my own standards. But, in my defense, there was a wedding and a honeymoon this spring, most worthy causes for celebration. I promise, though, that I'll be on set and in your inbox through the rest of the summer and fall. And, yes, my fellow former Wretch, Eliana, did have her second child. Mother and baby are very well indeed. As for a resumption of the podcast, I think we may have heard the last of it. But there are new projects in the pipeline, about which I will dutifully keep you informed. All best, c You should email us! Write to WHOLEHOGPOLITICS@ with your tips, kudos, criticisms, insights, rediscovered words, wonderful names, recipes, and, always, good jokes. Please include your real name — at least first and last — and hometown. Make sure to let us know in the email if you want to keep your submission private. My colleague, the recuperating Meera Sehgal, and I will look for your emails and then share the most interesting ones and my responses here. Clickety clack! FOR DESSERT: MONKEY BUSINESS WSJ: 'At a cliff-side temple on the tropical island of Bali, an unexpected group of criminals is running one of the world's most sophisticated scam operations. … Primate researchers have found that the macaques steal belongings to use as currency to trade with humans for food. Some monkeys can distinguish between objects we highly value (smartphones, prescription glasses, wallets) and those we don't (hats, flip flops, hair clips)—and will barter accordingly, according to a University of Lethbridge team that spent years filming the macaques and analyzing hundreds of hours of footage. In other words, the monkeys have 'unprecedented economic decision-making processes,' the researchers wrote in a 2021 academic paper. … Many cases require the help of the temple's monkey handlers, called 'pawang,' who negotiate with the furry hostage-takers. They offer fruits such as bananas, mangos, rambutan and mangosteen in exchange for the stolen items. In rare cases, they use raw chicken eggs, highly coveted by the monkeys.' Chris Stirewalt is the politics editor for The Hill and NewsNation, the host of ' The Hill Sunday' on NewsNation and The CW, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and the author of books on politics and the media. Meera Sehgal contributed to this report.
The Hill
28 minutes ago
- The Hill
Harris says political system ‘broken'; avoided news for ‘months' after election
Former Vice President Harris signaled Thursday that she is taking a break from political office for the time being, calling the system 'broken.' After months mostly out of the national spotlight, Harris appeared onstage with 'The Late Show' host Stephen Colbert in her first interview since President Trump's inauguration to promote her forthcoming book, '107 Days,' which outlines her last-minute presidential campaign. While speculation has circulated widely about whether she will mount a 2028 White House bid, the former Democratic presidential nominee said Wednesday she would not run for California governor. Harris explained that decision to Colbert on Thursday evening. 'I don't want to go back into the system. I think it's broken,' she said. 'I want to travel the country. I want to listen to people. I want to talk with people. And I don't want it to be transactional where I'm asking for their vote.' Harris, also a former senator, said she had avoided the news for 'months' after her presidential loss, part of a wider Democratic backslide across the electoral map. 'I'm just not into self-mutilation,' the former vice president said, adding that she watched 'lots of cooking shows,' including 'The Kitchen.' '107 Days' is billed as the inside story of Harris's truncated presidential bid. Still, she skirted questions from Colbert about how she thought about differentiating herself from former President Biden during the campaign, a theme she said she would address in the book. 'It's an instinct of mine to be someone who does not participate in piling on, and I was not going to pile on,' the former nominee said. When asked near the end of the interview who she thought led the Democratic Party, Harris claimed it was a mistake to 'put it on the shoulders of any one person.' 'It's really on all of our shoulders,' she added.
