Latest news with #Alvarado
Newsweek
4 days ago
- General
- Newsweek
Mom Drops Son at Daycare, Hours Later Gets Email That Has Her 'Scared'
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. When a mom received an email from her son's daycare informing her about something that had happened that day, she initially feared the worst. "When I got the email I got a little scared," Lizeth Alvarado from Escondido, California, told Newsweek. Childcare in the U.S. is almost prohibitively expensive. Figures published by the Department of Labor show families spend between 8.9 percent and 16.0 percent of their median income on full-day care for just one child, with annual prices ranging from $6,552 to $15,600. Given that kind of outlay, it's important for parents to feel happy that their child is being well looked after while they are at work. That's something Alvarado undoubtedly feels when it comes to the care her 2-year-old son Isaiah receives. "Isaiah has Down syndrome and we are thankful for his daycare staff for being open, understanding and loving him very much," Alvarado said. "He truly enjoys going and as his parents we truly appreciate all the staff there for making it a fun and safe environment." Isaiah, aged 2, looked decidedly different when he got back from daycare. Isaiah, aged 2, looked decidedly different when he got back from daycare. TikTok/losalvarados21 That didn't stop her heart from skipping a beat when she received an email alerting her to something that had happened that day. "I honestly thought it was an injury report and did scare me a bit, but I knew they would call me if it was something serious," Alvarado said. "But when I read it and saw the picture attached it made me crack up." As the series of pictures Alvarado included in a video posted to her TikTok, @losalvarados21, show Isaiah had been enjoying himself that day. "My son was at day care and the children were provided easels and paint," Alvarado explained. "Well, my son decided to have a grand old time on the blue paint." Seeing the picture of Isaiah covered in blue paint had his mom in stitches. "I thought it was the funniest thing and had to share it with everyone," Alvarado said. "I thought it was just too funny not to share. I also saw the reaction of my family and how it made them laugh." The video went viral, amassing close to 10 million views already. Though he was left decidedly blue in the clip, Alvarado is pleased to report that, after much cleaning, all of the paint came off. "The girls at daycare wiped him down with baby wipes and when he got home he soaked in a bath and everything came off," she said. "Luckily water based paints were used." Isaiah is due to turn 3 later this month. His mom might want to think twice before getting him any paints for his birthday.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Unearthed social media posts expose radical views of anti-ICE suspect captured by FBI
EXCLUSIVE: A social media account that is believed to belong to anti-ICE Texas attack suspect Benjamin Song, 32, who was captured Tuesday evening, contains anti-Israel, anti-police and anti-Trump rhetoric, according to posts reviewed and verified by Fox News Digital. Song was arrested by the FBI Dallas Field Office after the FBI offered a $25,000 reward for his capture regarding the attempted murder of federal officers and firearms crimes in an Independence Day riot at the Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, Texas. A local police officer is now recovering after being shot in the neck, and 11 other individuals are also facing charges, including 10 others for the aforementioned charges. "Do you want to end mass shooting? Abolish the police," he posted in June 2022 under the X handle, BubbleBreakBS. Fbi Captures Former Marine Corps Reservist Accused Of Shooting At Ice Officers At Texas Detention Center Fox News Digital was able to confirm that the "BubbleBreakBS" account belonged to Song after reviewing several social media posts, including a 2019 post when he thanked "Behind the Masks," a Facebook group that was dedicated to telling stories of protesters in the Free Hong Kong Movement, for telling his story, referring to their post as "my story." Read On The Fox News App The link that the account shared highlighted how "Ben Song, a 26-year-old Uber driver from Arlington,Texas who has been a political activist since he was 13, was moved by Hong Kong's fight for freedom and flew from the US to show his support." The post went on to describe Song as "half Korean and half Japanese" and said he "gained many unforgettable moments during his hands-on participation in the movement." BubbleBreakBS also posted out a couple of posts days later that appeared to link to a podcast "episode" on YouTube that he was featured in. The X posts, which included several pro-Hong Kong hashtags in light of the uprising against the CCP, mentioned Song's name. However, the YouTube channel appears to be private, and Fox News Digital could not access them. Song, a former U.S. Marine Corps reservist, appears to have been more conservative-leaning in his early college days, listing the College Republicans and martial arts clubs at the University of Texas at Arlington on his LinkedIn profile. He also listed being a contributor to a "Conservative Camp" blog for 11 months. However, during the last several years, his social media account has been littered with rhetoric attacking law enforcement, Republicans, President Donald Trump, Israel, Christians and other radical views. Who Is Benjamin Song? New Details Emerge About Anti-ice Suspect Captured After Major Texas Manhunt In June 2020, Song replied to a post from Trump in which the president wrote, "Biden wants to Defund the Police!", and Song replied, "Defund the Police! Defund the Baby Bunker B--ch!," a Trump nickname that the resistance movement used frequently online in 2020. In a 2022 post, Song called Trump "stupid as hell" and "easily controlled." "Really f---ed to 'both sides' this right now. All of Palestine is fighting for its life at this moment. The Joint Command says it had actionable intelligence that Netanyahu was going to extinguish Gaza soon. This is a death camp breakout. This is the Warsaw Uprising," he said on Oct. 10, 2023, just three days after the Hamas attack on Israel. "Sick." "Hitler is scared now. Little baby Hitler-Netanyahu doesn't want to be bullied for his heinous war crimes," he wrote on Oct. 17, 2023. "Israel is a vicious apartheid colony committing genocide every day. Zionism is racism. Zionism is white settler colonialism. Move Israel to Sardinia or Sicily or Goteland," he posted in March 2022. "ACAB because they are class traitors and white supremacist btw," he posted about police, using the "All cops are bastards" acronym in June 2021. "There is no world where they 'hold each other accountable.' Cops were created by the upper class for the upper class. They protect property and keep the poor in line. They have no other purpose." "Landlords are bad just like ACAB. It doesn't matter what individual actions there are, the institution is bad. There are no good slave owners," he said in June 2021. "Conservatives believe in prejudice + power when it affects them (in their imagination)," he posted in July 2021. "I've realized this is all fascist violence," he posted in March 2021. "The conservatives cry mental health, the liberal cry gun control. But every time it's white men killing people because they are black, Asian, women. This is the rising force of fascism within the neoliberal order." While Song's social media profile was littered with anti-GOP posts, he also attacked some Democratic leaders, like former President Joe Biden, failed Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang, former Rep. Beto O'Rourke of Texas and others. "Joe Biden is a racist. He is a sex offender. He is a corrupt puppet. His policies are s---. He engenders no hope or excitement amongst those who need it…" Song said in June 2020. "I used to support [Andrew] Yang, even though he had some lilly livered responses when I met him in Texas. Now he's gone full fascistic bootlicker. He will lose thankfully. A new wave movement has moved against fascism. Jan 6th was the high water mark," he wrote in May 2021. "Beto is a dangerous Billionaire family, racist and anti-immigrant far right fascist," he said in February 2022. In addition to Song's X handle, Fox News Digital was able to verify through online records and Instagram videos that Song was using the same martial arts studio that lists his mom as a "program director" and "owner" for filming different tactical exercises and self-defense training in the years before the attempted murder charges. It is unclear whether the groups of people with blurred-out faces in the social media posts were part of the Elm Fork John Brown Gun Club (EFJBGC), a left-wing "anti-fascist," or Antifa, gun group that Song is allegedly tied to. A Fox News Digital review revealed that Song's X account tagged the EFJBGC X handle several times over multiple years. The group did not respond to Fox News Digital's requests for comment. An archived version of EFJBGC's X account also references Song while promoting a GoFundMe to help him pay for legal services after he was arrested in August 2020. The post, which claims that Song was a "member" of the "Socialist Rifle Association," goes on to say he was "being charged with two bullsh—felonies." The GoFundMe verified multiple background details Fox News Digital found while digging through his X account, including how he "practiced activism from Hong Kong to San Francisco…" The GoFundMe, which lists Song as a "beneficiary" of more than $3,000 in donations, also says Song was a "proud member of the Black Lives Matter group 'We Take The Streets' and that he was a "lifelong activist for the 1st Amendment, 2nd Amendment, drug reform, police brutality, and human rights." The page also said that Song was being "charged with (2) 1st degree felonies because he was exercising his 2nd Amendment right to open carry when they were assaulted and arrested." Song's X account referenced the arrest during that same month and tagged multiple lawyers seeking help for his defense, including controversial civil rights attorney Ben Crump, writing to him that he was "facing absolutely ridiculous but quite expensive charges." Fox News Digital could not confirm whether Crump saw the messages or helped represent Song. BubbleBreakBS account posted on then-Twitter in May 2021 that he was "setting up an airsoft team for training and gaming." The Telegram moniker in the link and the X handle match an Instagram account that posted several screenshots of BubbleBreakBS posts and videos showing the same painted walls and designs as the backdrop in footage from the archived website of the martial arts studio that Song's mom owns. The Instagram account's first post was also just days after BubbleBreakBS announced that the account was being created. Song's mom, Hope, is the program director of an Arlington, Texas, martial arts studio called Sentinel Martial Arts. An archived webpage of her bio says she is a 4th-degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do and "oversees the implementation of all in-house and off-site programming," which includes "seminars and classes at local learning centers, schools, churches, camps and clubs; and coordination of special events, festivals, demonstrations and performances." Older archives of the website from 2021-2023 lists Song's mom as an "owner" of the studio. Fox News Digital could not confirm whether Song's mom was aware the studio was being used for recording tactical exercises. Song's mom nor the martial arts studio have been accused of any misconduct in connection with Song's apparent use of the studio premises. The alleged attack by the younger Song, who is innocent until proven guilty, came as the Department of Homeland Security is sounding the alarm on assaults on ICE agents, which DHS says have increased by 830% from last year. "This new data reflects the violence against our law enforcement in cities across the country in the last few weeks. Politicians across the country, regardless of political stripe, must condemn this," DHS Secretary Kristi Noem posted to X on Tuesday. "The FBI has worked tirelessly to arrest everyone associated with the shooting at the Prairieland Detention Center," FBI Dallas Field Office Special Agent in Charge R. Joseph Rothrock said after Song was captured Tuesday afternoon. "We would like to thank all the entities that publicized this case and assisted in our efforts to successfully locate Benjamin Song." Song is being held on a $15 million bond at the Johnson County Jail and facing a slew of additional charges, including aggravated assault on a public servant, aiding terrorism and engaging in organized crime, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety. In addition to Song, a recent shooting at a Border Patrol annex facility in McAllen, Texas, resulted in injuries to a local officer and Border Patrol personnel, in addition to the gunman being killed. "Our agents are never gonna be afraid. They know the job that they signed up for. But what they don't appreciate, what we don't want is targeting," National Border Patrol Council President Paul Perez told Fox News Digital in a recent interview. Fox News Digital reached out to Song, Song's mom, the Sentinel Martial Arts studio, EFJBGC, Ben Crump, and an individual who appeared to be tied to the suspect through left-wing online article source: Unearthed social media posts expose radical views of anti-ICE suspect captured by FBI Solve the daily Crossword
Fox News
6 days ago
- Politics
- Fox News
Unearthed social media posts expose radical views of anti-ICE suspect captured by FBI
EXCLUSIVE: A social media account that is believed to belong to anti-ICE Texas attack suspect Benjamin Song, 32, who was captured Tuesday evening, contains anti-Israel, anti-police and anti-Trump rhetoric, according to posts reviewed and verified by Fox News Digital. Song was arrested by the FBI Dallas Field Office after the FBI offered a $25,000 reward for his capture regarding the attempted murder of federal officers and firearms crimes in an Independence Day riot at the Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, Texas. A local police officer is now recovering after being shot in the neck, and 11 other individuals are also facing charges, including 10 others for the aforementioned charges. "Do you want to end mass shooting? Abolish the police," he posted in June 2022 under the X handle, BubbleBreakBS. Fox News Digital was able to confirm that the "BubbleBreakBS" account belonged to Song after reviewing several social media posts, including a 2019 post when he thanked "Behind the Masks," a Facebook group that was dedicated to telling stories of protesters in the Free Hong Kong Movement, for telling his story, referring to their post as "my story." The link that the account shared highlighted how "Ben Song, a 26-year-old Uber driver from Arlington,Texas who has been a political activist since he was 13, was moved by Hong Kong's fight for freedom and flew from the US to show his support." The post went on to describe Song as "half Korean and half Japanese" and said he "gained many unforgettable moments during his hands-on participation in the movement." BubbleBreakBS also posted out a couple of posts days later that appeared to link to a podcast "episode" on YouTube that he was featured in. The X posts, which included several pro-Hong Kong hashtags in light of the uprising against the CCP, mentioned Song's name. However, the YouTube channel appears to be private, and Fox News Digital could not access them. Song, a former U.S. Marine Corps reservist, appears to have been more conservative-leaning in his early college days, listing the College Republicans and martial arts clubs at the University of Texas at Arlington on his LinkedIn profile. He also listed being a contributor to a "Conservative Camp" blog for 11 months. However, during the last several years, his social media account has been littered with rhetoric attacking law enforcement, Republicans, President Donald Trump, Israel, Christians and other radical views. In June 2020, Song replied to a post from Trump in which the president wrote, "Biden wants to Defund the Police!", and Song replied, "Defund the Police! Defund the Baby Bunker B--ch!," a Trump nickname that the resistance movement used frequently online in 2020. In a 2022 post, Song called Trump "stupid as hell" and "easily controlled." "Really f---ed to 'both sides' this right now. All of Palestine is fighting for its life at this moment. The Joint Command says it had actionable intelligence that Netanyahu was going to extinguish Gaza soon. This is a death camp breakout. This is the Warsaw Uprising," he said on Oct. 10, 2023, just three days after the Hamas attack on Israel. "Sick." "Hitler is scared now. Little baby Hitler-Netanyahu doesn't want to be bullied for his heinous war crimes," he wrote on Oct. 17, 2023. "Israel is a vicious apartheid colony committing genocide every day. Zionism is racism. Zionism is white settler colonialism. Move Israel to Sardinia or Sicily or Goteland," he posted in March 2022. "ACAB because they are class traitors and white supremacist btw," he posted about police, using the "All cops are bastards" acronym in June 2021. "There is no world where they 'hold each other accountable.' Cops were created by the upper class for the upper class. They protect property and keep the poor in line. They have no other purpose." "Landlords are bad just like ACAB. It doesn't matter what individual actions there are, the institution is bad. There are no good slave owners," he said in June 2021. "Conservatives believe in prejudice + power when it affects them (in their imagination)," he posted in July 2021. "I've realized this is all fascist violence," he posted in March 2021. "The conservatives cry mental health, the liberal cry gun control. But every time it's white men killing people because they are black, Asian, women. This is the rising force of fascism within the neoliberal order." While Song's social media profile was littered with anti-GOP posts, he also attacked some Democratic leaders, like former President Joe Biden, failed Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang, former Rep. Beto O'Rourke of Texas and others. "Joe Biden is a racist. He is a sex offender. He is a corrupt puppet. His policies are s---. He engenders no hope or excitement amongst those who need it…" Song said in June 2020. "I used to support [Andrew] Yang, even though he had some lilly livered responses when I met him in Texas. Now he's gone full fascistic bootlicker. He will lose thankfully. A new wave movement has moved against fascism. Jan 6th was the high water mark," he wrote in May 2021. "Beto is a dangerous Billionaire family, racist and anti-immigrant far right fascist," he said in February 2022. In addition to Song's X handle, Fox News Digital was able to verify through online records and Instagram videos that Song was using the same martial arts studio that lists his mom as a "program director" and "owner" for filming different tactical exercises and self-defense training in the years before the attempted murder charges. It is unclear whether the groups of people with blurred-out faces in the social media posts were part of the Elm Fork John Brown Gun Club (EFJBGC), a left-wing "anti-fascist," or Antifa, gun group that Song is allegedly tied to. A Fox News Digital review revealed that Song's X account tagged the EFJBGC X handle several times over multiple years. The group did not respond to Fox News Digital's requests for comment. An archived version of EFJBGC's X account also references Song while promoting a GoFundMe to help him pay for legal services after he was arrested in August 2020. The post, which claims that Song was a "member" of the "Socialist Rifle Association," goes on to say he was "being charged with two bullsh—felonies." The GoFundMe verified multiple background details Fox News Digital found while digging through his X account, including how he "practiced activism from Hong Kong to San Francisco…" The GoFundMe, which lists Song as a "beneficiary" of more than $3,000 in donations, also says Song was a "proud member of the Black Lives Matter group 'We Take The Streets' and that he was a "lifelong activist for the 1st Amendment, 2nd Amendment, drug reform, police brutality, and human rights." The page also said that Song was being "charged with (2) 1st degree felonies because he was exercising his 2nd Amendment right to open carry when they were assaulted and arrested." Song's X account referenced the arrest during that same month and tagged multiple lawyers seeking help for his defense, including controversial civil rights attorney Ben Crump, writing to him that he was "facing absolutely ridiculous but quite expensive charges." Fox News Digital could not confirm whether Crump saw the messages or helped represent Song. BubbleBreakBS account posted on then-Twitter in May 2021 that he was "setting up an airsoft team for training and gaming." The Telegram moniker in the link and the X handle match an Instagram account that posted several screenshots of BubbleBreakBS posts and videos showing the same painted walls and designs as the backdrop in footage from the archived website of the martial arts studio that Song's mom owns. The Instagram account's first post was also just days after BubbleBreakBS announced that the account was being created. Song's mom, Hope, is the program director of an Arlington, Texas, martial arts studio called Sentinel Martial Arts. An archived webpage of her bio says she is a 4th-degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do and "oversees the implementation of all in-house and off-site programming," which includes "seminars and classes at local learning centers, schools, churches, camps and clubs; and coordination of special events, festivals, demonstrations and performances." Older archives of the website from 2021-2023 lists Song's mom as an "owner" of the studio. Fox News Digital could not confirm whether Song's mom was aware the studio was being used for recording tactical exercises. Song's mom nor the martial arts studio have been accused of any misconduct in connection with Song's apparent use of the studio premises. The alleged attack by the younger Song, who is innocent until proven guilty, came as the Department of Homeland Security is sounding the alarm on assaults on ICE agents, which DHS says have increased by 830% from last year. "This new data reflects the violence against our law enforcement in cities across the country in the last few weeks. Politicians across the country, regardless of political stripe, must condemn this," DHS Secretary Kristi Noem posted to X on Tuesday. "The FBI has worked tirelessly to arrest everyone associated with the shooting at the Prairieland Detention Center," FBI Dallas Field Office Special Agent in Charge R. Joseph Rothrock said after Song was captured Tuesday afternoon. "We would like to thank all the entities that publicized this case and assisted in our efforts to successfully locate Benjamin Song." Song is being held on a $15 million bond at the Johnson County Jail and facing a slew of additional charges, including aggravated assault on a public servant, aiding terrorism and engaging in organized crime, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety. In addition to Song, a recent shooting at a Border Patrol annex facility in McAllen, Texas, resulted in injuries to a local officer and Border Patrol personnel, in addition to the gunman being killed. "Our agents are never gonna be afraid. They know the job that they signed up for. But what they don't appreciate, what we don't want is targeting," National Border Patrol Council President Paul Perez told Fox News Digital in a recent interview. Fox News Digital reached out to Song, Song's mom, the Sentinel Martial Arts studio, EFJBGC, Ben Crump, and an individual who appeared to be tied to the suspect through left-wing online activism.
San Francisco Chronicle
7 days ago
- Politics
- San Francisco Chronicle
Alvarado, Kentucky's first Hispanic state legislator, echoes Trump in launching a congressional bid
Republican Ralph Alvarado, who made history as Kentucky's first Hispanic state legislator but then left to become Tennessee's top public health leader, reentered Bluegrass State politics on Thursday by announcing his bid for an open congressional seat targeted by Democrats in 2026. 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.
Hamilton Spectator
7 days ago
- Politics
- Hamilton Spectator
Alvarado, Kentucky's first Hispanic state legislator, echoes Trump in launching a congressional bid
Republican Ralph Alvarado, who made history as Kentucky's first Hispanic state legislator but then left to become Tennessee's top public health leader, reentered Bluegrass State politics on Thursday by announcing his bid for an open congressional seat targeted by Democrats in 2026. 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. Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
