Rep. Andy Barr’s decision to run for U.S. Senate in 2026 is set to open Kentucky’s 6th Congressional District seat, centered on Lexington. Democrats are recruiting candidates for a district that has been in Republican hands since 2013, while Republicans are preparing for a competitive primary to replace Barr.
Kentucky’s 6th Congressional District, anchored by Lexington, has been represented by Republican Rep. Andy Barr since January 2013. With Barr running for U.S. Senate in 2026, the House seat is expected to become an open-seat contest.
Barr announced his Senate campaign in April 2025, entering a Republican primary field seeking to succeed Sen. Mitch McConnell. McConnell, who stepped down as Senate Republican leader after the 2024 elections, has said he will retire at the end of his current term.
The 6th District was last won by a Democrat in a presidential election year more than a decade ago, when then-Rep. Ben Chandler held the seat. Barr won reelection in 2024 by roughly a 24-point margin, according to race calls and reported tallies, while Donald Trump carried the district in the 2024 presidential contest by about 15 percentage points based on district-level results.
On the Democratic side, Navy veteran and former federal prosecutor Zach Dembo has been raising money early in the cycle as he seeks his party’s nomination. Louisville Public Media reported in October 2025 that Dembo, who launched his campaign in mid-2025, raised $289,000 and ended the quarter with about $229,000 cash on hand.
Former Kentucky state Rep. Cherlynn Stevenson is also running and has positioned herself as a candidate focused on cost-of-living issues and access to health care. Louisville Public Media reported that she served three terms in the state House, rose into Democratic leadership, and lost a closely contested race in 2024.
National Democrats have signaled interest in the district. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee included Barr and KY-06 on its list of “Districts in Play” for the 2026 cycle, a political designation the committee uses to highlight seats it views as competitive.
Republicans are also gearing up for a contested primary for the open House seat. Among the Republicans who have entered the race is former state Sen. Ralph Alvarado, who previously served in Kentucky’s legislature and later led Tennessee’s health department, according to the Associated Press. Other potential GOP contenders have been discussed publicly as the field forms.
Even as both parties organize for 2026, recent redistricting and past voting patterns continue to tilt the district toward Republicans. Barr has generally won comfortably since first taking office, and election analysts have not consistently ranked KY-06 among the most competitive House battlegrounds nationally.
Kentucky’s congressional primary is scheduled for May 19, 2026, with the general election set for Nov. 3, 2026.
