Former KY rep Cherlynn Stevenson to run as Democrat to replace Barr in Congress
Former Lexington state representative Cherlynn Stevenson is running to flip the 6th Congressional District from red to blue in 2026, she announced Tuesday.
Stevenson said that she believes the seat is within reach for Democrats despite GOP Rep. Andy Barr’s recent landslide victories.
“I know how to win in a red seat,” Stevenson said in an interview with the Herald-Leader about the race.
So, how is it done? Stevenson said she’ll focus on aggressive in-person campaigning and hammering home the “meat and potatoes” issues of prices, education and health care.
A predicted backlash to the policies of President Donald Trump, whose undulating tariff strategy has stirred uncertainty and even discontent on Wall Street, is central to her argument. The available polling on Trump’s approval rating has been declining steadily.
“I think people are really scared by the chaos that they’re seeing in Washington right now,” she said.
“You know, we see tariffs that are hurting our local economies and threatening a lot of jobs. We see people that are worried that the Social Security benefits aren’t going to be there, that Medicaid and Medicare are in danger. You know, a carton of eggs cost more, and people’s nest eggs have gone down.”
Stevenson added: “I think that the environment is going to be right for somebody who’s out there not trying to talk about the things that divide us, but about the real issues that Kentucky families and working families are facing right now.”
But while Stevenson, 48, won her seat three times, she lost on the fourth effort to Rep. Vanessa Grossl, R-Georgetown, last year.
Grossl flipped the seat — which stretches across much of suburban and rural Fayette County as well a slice of Scott County — winning by about half a percentage point two years after Stevenson won reelection by an even slimmer margin.
Republican Party of Kentucky Communications Director Andy Westberry pointed the loss out in a statement on Stevenson’s candidacy.
“Cherlynn Stevenson must be a glutton for punishment. After getting rejected by voters in her own backyard, she’s now aiming higher—only to fall harder. Her entry into this race isn’t a serious campaign; it’s a one-way ticket to political career-ending humiliation.
“Let’s be clear: the 6th District is Trump Country —rock-solid Republican ground where liberal pipe dreams go to die,” Westberry wrote.
Indeed, Trump won the district by about 15 percentage points. Ever since a close three-point victory over Democrat Amy McGrath in 2018, Barr has won his last three elections by an average of 24 percentage points.
But Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear, albeit with a different off-year electorate, won the district by about 20.
And Stevenson’s pledge to focus on the “real issues” over the divisive ones sounds a lot like Beshear’s classic pitch to voters, both in Kentucky and more recently on the national stage.
So where does Beshear stand on Stevenson’s run? She said she spoke to the governor before making her announcement, and he was “encouraging,”
“He was encouraging. We talked about the fact that I have been able to win in difficult districts. You know, he has endorsed me in every other race that I’ve ever been in, and I look forward to earning his endorsement this time,” Stevenson said.
She did not say whether she believed his endorsement would come during the primary for the seat.
A handful of other Kentucky Democrats have been mentioned as possibilities for the seat, especially since the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee listed the Central Kentucky-based district as one of their 35 Republican-held “Districts in Play” for the 2026 cycle.
Federal prosecutor Zach Dembo and former Lexington councilman David Kloiber are two names to watch; former secretary of state Allison Lundergan Grimes is also mentioned as a potential candidate.
Fayette County makes up about 44% of the district.
The other counties in the 6th Congressional District, in order of population, are Madison, Scott, Jessamine, Montgomery, Woodford, Mercer, Bourbon, Garrard, Fleming, Estill, Powell and Nicholas. Aside from Fayette, the other counties in the district generally lean Republican.
Stevenson’s background
When asked about her elevator pitch to voters, Stevenson gave a glimpse of how she feels her background – moving to the Lexington area from Eastern Kentucky, as many residents have – might help her.
“I was raised in Eastern Kentucky by a mom who was a teacher and a daddy who worked in coal and I know the values of hard work, and I know you know the struggles that everyday Kentuckians face, that I am not someone who Is there to represent a political party, but I am there to represent the people and take their hopes, their dreams and their worst fears to Washington and to fight for them,” Stevenson said.
Stevenson was raised in Knott County but has lived in Lexington for several years. She first ran for office and flipped the 88th House District in 2018. She won a close race in 2020, then won again by just 37 votes in a tight race to Republican Jim Coleman.
In Frankfort, Stevenson rose the ranks quickly to become House Democratic caucus chair four years into her time there. She was widely seen as a strong candidate for floor leader, the highest position in the caucus, before her loss.
Stevenson was the subject of a short-lived controversy last year due to an ethics complaint filed against her. The complaint centered around her co-purchasing a Frankfort condo with a lobbyist. It was swiftly dismissed by the Legislative Ethics Commission.
Stevenson’s political calling card has been education. She pushed back strongly against 2024’s pro-school choice amendment, which would have allowed the state legislature to fund charter and non-public K-12 schooling.
Stevenson represented the “anti” side on the amendment question at Fancy Farm, the state’s biggest political speaking event, in 2024.
The amendment ended up losing by a whopping 30 percentage points.
At the event
On Tuesday morning, Stevenson made her announcement public in front of television cameras and more than 50 supporters in Midway.
The setting was intentional. Stevenson held the event at Bluegrass Distillers, a bourbon distillery just off the I-64 exit. Tariffs have been top of mind for the industry, as bourbon has previously been in the crosshairs of retaliatory tariffs levied by other countries against the United States.
Her podium was set up inside the distillery with a row of bourbon barrels lined up behind her. Open garage bay doors behind Stevenson revealed a landscape of verdant Kentucky fields.
“We need economic policies that put working people first and take on billionaires rigging the system, not tariffs that risk sending us into another Great Depression. It’s time for trade policies that benefit Kentucky workers, families and our country,” Stevenson said. “We all want more American jobs, but these tariffs are hurting us right here at home. Bourbon is being taken off the shelves around the world.”
Stevenson’s speech covered a lot of territory, but some of the top items hammered on were GOP-backed health care spending cuts, tariffs and opposition to tax breaks benefiting the wealthy.
After her speech, she said she was against one of the GOP’s top priorities this year: extending the tax cuts implemented by the Trump-backed Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
“We should not be giving billionaires a tax cut at the expense of veterans (and) families who depend on Medicaid and Medicare for their health care,” Stevenson said.
On foreign policy, Stevenson offered a glimpse of where she stands on some of the biggest issues of the day, like the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza.
“I support Ukraine and their ability to be able to defend themselves, and I think the United States has a role to play in trying to keep peace and protect democracy around the world,” Stevenson said.
While Democrats have been generally in agreement about Ukraine, the party line is less clear on the conflict in Israel and Palestine, which was kicked off by the Hamas attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, that ended in nearly 1,200 people killed in Israel, many of them civilians. Israel’s response has led to tens of thousands of Palestinian deaths, with the Palestinian Health Authority estimating more than 50,000 dead.
“What happened back in October was horrendous, and the atrocities happening in the region need to stop. There are a ton of innocent people and children dying and starving to death, and and that really needs to come to an end,” Stevenson said. “We need peace in the Middle East and innocent lives have to be protected. Israel has the right to defend itself, but not at the expense of starving people and killing children.”
Stevenson supporters included a handful of Frankfort colleagues alongside community members.
Former state representative Rachel Roberts, a Northern Kentuckian who served in leadership alongside Stevenson, said that Stevenson was “absolutely the person” to flip the district because of her work ethic and the current political environment.
“Nobody worked harder than her. The way she won her seat and flipped it in 2018 is that she knocked every single door,” Roberts said. “As someone who ran as a Democrat in the state several times, she was always the high bar that the rest of Democrats running would try to meet as far as every door knocked and voter outreach. She will do the work.”
Rep. Adrielle Camuel, D-Lexington, a close ally of Stevenson, agreed. She said that one of Stevenson’s biggest assets was her personality.
“Anybody who has had a minute to talk with Cherlynn knows that she is as genuine as they come. She’s the real deal,” Camuel said. “Her passion for Kentucky, for the 6th District, but also everyone in Kentucky to try and improve life — when you talk to her, you know that’s who she is.”
This story was originally published May 13, 2025 at 6:00 AM.
