Most congressional incumbents in Kentucky have yet to draw a serious challenger for their race next year, but several candidates in both parties are raising hundreds of thousands of dollars in their bid to replace Republican U.S. Rep. Andy Barr in his central Kentucky district.
Barr announced this year he will not seek an eight term in the Sixth District, instead running for U.S. Senate to replace retiring Sen. Mitch McConnell. That opened up what is the most competitive congressional seat in Kentucky, though Republicans still have a decided advantage.
Three Republican candidates filed campaign finance reports Wednesday showing they each entered October with more than $300,000 in their accounts. Former state Sen. Ralph Alvarado led the way by raising $373,986 in the past three-month quarter, while state Reps. Deanna Gordon and Ryan Dotson weren’t far behind with the help of large personal loans to their campaigns.
On the Democratic side, four candidates running for the seat filed their federal reports, showing first-time candidate Zach Dembo ending the quarter with the most cash on hand, at nearly $229,000.
Most other congressional incumbents running for reelection in Kentucky have yet to draw a serious challenger who’s been able to raise significant funds, with each now amassing more than $1 million in their campaign war chest.
This includes GOP Rep. Thomas Massie of northern Kentucky’s Fourth District, despite President Donald Trump targeting him for defeat and attempting to recruit a challenger, along with a Trump-aligned PAC airing attack ads against him.
Here’s a closer look at the fundraising battle in these congressional races and who is filling their campaign coffers.
Alvarado, Dotson and Gordon are close in GOP money race
Alvarado has had the most success pulling in contributions among the Republicans seeking Barr’s seat, as he makes his return to Kentucky politics.
Shortly after Alvarado was elected to his third term in the state Senate in 2022, he abruptly resigned to accept a position as the commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Health. In July of this year, Alvarado resigned from that position and announced he was moving back to Kentucky to run for Barr’s open seat. He was also previously the running mate of Gov. Matt Bevin in 2019, who lost that race.
Alvarado raised $373,986 in contributions from July through September, including $48,500 from political action committees. He is a physician, and most of those PACs and numerous donors were from the health care industry.
Among his top givers were some of the biggest Kentucky GOP donors, including Corbin banker Terry Forcht and Nicholasville real estate developer Brett Setzer. He also received contributions from some of his old Republican colleagues in the state Senate, including Julie Raque Adams and Steve West, as well as former Sen. Damon Thayer.
Alvarado ended the quarter with $320,754 cash on hand, which is slightly more than his two GOP opponents who also filed with the Federal Election Commission on the Wednesday deadline.
Republican state Rep. Deanna Gordon of Richmond also announced her candidacy in July, raising $358,249 in the quarter. The large majority of that haul was from herself, as she loaned her campaign $268,000.
Gordon is an audiologist, and she received a large chunk of contributions from professionals in that industry. At least 30 audiologists and the national PAC of audiologists combined to send her more than $18,000.
She also received contributions from the judge-executives of Madison County and Clark County and the mayor of Berea, but did not receive any from her Republican colleagues in the House.
GOP State Rep. Ryan Dotson of Winchester — also where Alvarado served from in the state Senate — launched his campaign in April, with most of his receipts in the second quarter coming from his own personal loan of $60,000.
Dotson was again his campaign’s biggest donor over the past three months, loaning it another $200,000 — the large majority of its total haul of $228,793.
Half of Dotson’s individual contributions this quarter came from the apartment and residential rental industry, which he has won victories for in Frankfort over the past two years. In 2024, he was the lead sponsor of a bill that voided Louisville and Lexington bans on source of income discrimination by landlords, and then played a role in forcing Louisville to severely weaken its own local regulations to protect children from lead paint in rental properties.
The National Apartment Association PAC gave Dotson a maximum $5,000 contribution, while the Louisville Apartment Association and its president each gave $4,000. John Pirtle, the owner of a Louisville rental company, gave a maximum donation of $3,500.
Dotson received a maximum contribution of $3,500 from Elmer Whitaker, the owner of Whitaker Bank, as well as two GOP state legislators: Sen. Phillip Wheeler of Pikeville and Rep. Richard White of Morehead.
First-time candidate has early fundraising edge among Democrats
Dembo, a Navy veteran and former federal prosecutor, launched his first run for elected office in July, seeking the Democratic nomination in Barr’s district.
He had a strong fundraising showing right out of the gate, raising $289,000 in contributions and ending the quarter with $228,977 cash on hand.
Dembo picked up a contribution from James Link, the secretary of the Labor Cabinet in the administration of Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear, as well as support from many attorneys. This included $12,500 from attorneys at the Louisville firm Tachau Meek PLC, where Dembo currently works.
Former state Rep. Cherlynn Stevenson of Lexington announced her campaign in May, raising $210,000 in the second quarter and another $135,135 in the past three months.
Stevenson — who served three terms in her House district and ascended to Democratic leadership, before losing a close race in 2024 — has received support from many of her former colleagues. This includes former state Reps. Susan Westrom, Ruth Ann Palumbo and Joni Jenkins, as well as Angie Hatton, who now chairs the Kentucky Public Service Commission.
She also received contributions from state Budget Director John Hicks, as well as former state Auditor and current solar company CEO Adam Edelen.
Stevenson’s campaign spent more funds than it raised in the third quarter, starting October with $154,294 cash on hand.
Also running for the Democratic nomination is David Kloiber, a former city councilman in Lexington who unsuccessfully ran for mayor last year.
Kloiber’s campaign has raised $176,970 since launching in May, though $127,000 of that came from his own personal loan.
Democrat Erin Petrey also joined the race in September, raising $65,224 in less than a month. Her campaign website says recently worked for Amazon Web Services, leading “strategic initiatives to enhance data center sustainability.”
Congressional incumbents facing little opposition so far
The other five congressional districts in Kentucky are not thought of as being competitive in the general election — nor have they been for more than a decade. That’s reflected in the latest campaign finance reports, which show the incumbents are well funded and few challengers have raised any significant amount of money.
GOP Rep. James Comer of the First District — which is oddly stretched from far west Kentucky to Frankfort — is in the most comfortable position, ending the quarter with $3.2 million cash on hand. He currently faces only one Democratic opponent that has raised any funds, as John Andrew Williams started October with just $1,000.
Republican Congressman Brett Guthrie of the Second District, stretching from Bowling Green to east Louisville, is sitting on $1.4 million. William Compton — who has lost two consecutive primaries for the seat — is the only Democratic opponent who has reported raising any money, with just $1,000 cash on hand.
Rep. Morgan McGarvey, Kentucky’s only Democratic congressman, now has $1.5 million cash on hand. No opponents have reported raising any money in the Third District race, encompassing most of Louisville.
Republican Rep. Hal Rogers of eastern Kentucky’s Fifth District is the dean of the U.S. House, serving with the longest continuous term since 1981. He currently has just more than $1 million cash on hand, but for the first time in a while he may face a Democrat whose campaign has some money to spend.
Democratic attorney Ned Pillersdorf announced his candidacy in June and has raised more than $60,000, ending the quarter with $41,151 cash on hand. His donors include former Democratic Gov. Paul Patton, who contributed $1,000.
GOP Rep. Thomas Massie is facing fire from Trump and his allies, but so far does not have a Republican primary challenger that has reported raising any money.
Massie raised $752,990 in the past quarter, bringing his cash on hand to more than $2 million. His campaign said this week that both figures are records for Massie, a sign that he is not vulnerable, despite the MAGA KY PAC spending $2 million on TV attack ads against him. The PAC is entirely funded by three billionaire GOP donors who have supported Trump’s past presidential campaigns.
Only two Democratic challengers have reported raising any funds in the Fourth District race, as Monica Dean and Jesse Brewer both reported having a few thousands dollars cash on hand.
Kentucky’s primary election is on May 19, 2026.
