Ralph Alvarado advances as GOP nominee for Kentucky’s 6th Congressional District
President Donald Trump-endorsed candidate Ralph Alvarado won the Republican primary for Kentucky’s 6th Congressional District, according to the Associated Press.
With Republican Rep. Andy Barr running for U.S. Senate, Central Kentucky’s congressional seat is open for the first time in over a decade. District 6 includes all of Lexington, Richmond and Georgetown, and stretches from Lawrenceburg to Owingsville.
“It’s just the beginning, and we’ve got a long way to go yet ... the Democrats are targeting this seat, and so if we think that this is over, it’s not,” Alvarado said Tuesday night. “The odds are still in our favor, but there’s a lot of folks out there who are hurting in our district and in our country.”
Alvarado, a physician, said his top priority will be a focus on healthcare, along with reducing the cost of living and parental choice.
“I’m going to be very persistent in that, getting a healthcare system where people have control, doctors have control again, and not the government and not insurance companies,” Alvarado said. “I know the other side, their answer is more money in, more government control, more insurance companies, that is not the answer. We need to give the power back to the people to control the shots when it comes to their healthcare and to their own lives effectively.”
When Barr was called as the Republican winner of the primary for U.S. Senate, cheers broke out at Alvarado’s watch party, where supporters gathered at The Hall on Main in Winchester.
As supporters watched results in other races around the state be announced, some commented on the power of Trump’s endorsement — Ed Gallrein, who was endorsed by Trump, defeated seven-term U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie after months of Trump targeting Massie.
Alvarado first ran for office in 2004 and 2006, when he lost close races to an incumbent House Democrat. He narrowly lost again in 2010 to incumbent Democrat R.J. Palmer for state Senate District 28.
His political career jump-started in 2014, when he won the state Senate District 28 race and made history as the first Hispanic lawmaker in the Kentucky General Assembly. There, Alvarado chaired the Senate Health and Welfare Committee before leaving the Senate in 2023. He then became the commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Health, a role from which he has since left.
In 2019, Alvarado also ran as former Gov. Matt Bevin’s running mate in his unsuccessful reelection effort.
Two other Republicans ran vigorous campaigns in the primary election: state Rep. Ryan Dotson, R-Winchester, and former pharmaceutical executive Greg Plucinski.
Dotson currently represents Central Kentucky’s state House District 73, and ran as a vocal social conservative who would continue fighting culture wars. Dotson first ran as a Democrat for the state senate in 2010 and as a Republican for Clark County judge-executive in 2014, but lost both races.
In 2020, he unseated incumbent state Rep. Les Yates of Winchester in the Republican primary, and won that year’s general election.
As a social conservative, Dotson helped lead the fight in 2022 for a bill to ban transgender women from women’s sports at public colleges and universities.
Plucinski positioned himself as a political outsider in the race, having never held or run for elected office. A supporter of Trump, Plucinski said he was someone not beholden to “special interests.” His campaign focused on bringing more jobs to Kentucky, and reducing the cost of living and inflation.
Plucinski was president and chief operational officer of Summit Biosciences, which specialized in nasal sprays, but was acquired by a larger pharmaceutical group in 2024.
This story was originally published May 19, 2026 at 9:38 PM.