Kentucky Newsmakers 10/31: Midterm election preview

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) - On the latest edition of Kentucky Newsmakers, we break down some of the biggest races on the ballot for Kentuckians.

U.S. Senate race

Democrat Charles Booker and Republican U.S. Rep. Andy Barr are running for the Senate seat held by retiring Sen. Mitch McConnell.

Booker is making his third run for Senate. He is trying to flip a Kentucky Senate seat to Democrats for the first time since 1999.

Barr, a Lexington native, flipped Kentucky’s 6th Congressional District to Republicans in 2012. He started his first term in 2013.

MORE: Barr, Booker outline positions on costs, surveillance and child safety in Kentucky Senate race

Kentucky’s 6th Congressional District

Kentucky’s 6th Congressional District, currently represented by Andy Barr, stretches from central Kentucky’s Bluegrass region to the Appalachian foothills. Representation of the seat alternated between Democrats and Republicans for decades before Barr won the seat for the GOP. He has held the seat for more than a decade.

With Barr running for U.S. Senate, Republican Ralph Alvarado and Democrat Zach Dembo are both vying to succeed him.

Alvarado most recently served as the 15th commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Health. Before that he served in the Kentucky Senate, representing the 28th District, from 2015 to 2023 and was former Gov. Matt Bevin’s running mate in his failed 2019 reelection bid.

Dembo most recently served as assistant United States attorney in Lexington and has also served as a policy adviser for Gov. Beshear.

MORE: Alvarado, Dembo outline differing plans on costs, data centers in Kentucky’s 6th District

Lexington Mayor’s Race

Lexington Mayor Linda Gorton is seeking a third term. Raquel Carter, a real estate professional running for her first elected office, is seeking to unseat incumbent Gorton.

MORE: Gorton, Carter make final cases to Lexington voters in mayor’s race