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Candidates › KY-06 race › 2025–2026
Zach Dembo
D Democratic nominee for U.S. House, KY-06
Has not served in Congress
- On the ballot
- On the general election ballotNov 3, 2026 · Kentucky US House 6
- Where to vote
- Find your polling place (opens in a new tab) · More ways to vote
- Top priorities
- Put Washington Corruption on Trial Agenda
- End the Trade War and Get Costs Down for Kentucky Families
- Stop Endless Wars in the Middle East
- Root Out Corruption and Restore Integrity to Government
- Rebuild the American Dream
- Money
- $3.2M raised, $2.6M spent, $620.3K cash on hand (through Oct 14, 2026). Where it comes from
- Who gives
- 12% of individual money from donors at $200 or less · 73% from Kentucky · largest committee giver VOTEVETS, $10K
- Outside groups
- $596.6K supporting, $2.7M opposing Dembo
- Backed by
- Andy Beshear · Rocky Adkins · Jacqueline Coleman and 42 more. As the campaign lists them
10 priorities from zachdembo.com, in the order they are listed there. Every heading and the text under it is copied exactly, as one passage for each page it is from, and links to that place on the page; hover a source to see which passage it opens.
As a federal prosecutor, I spent my career keeping my community safe and holding the powerful accountable to the fullest extent of the law. Now, I’m running for Congress because we need someone who will take that fight to Washington and focus on the issues that matter.
Both parties have broken the public trust, and they must answer to the American people. Throughout my career, I’ve sworn four oaths to the Constitution, and I took each one seriously. That’s why I resigned from the Department of Justice when I saw corruption that benefited politicians over regular people. It was a matter of principle.
This is a bigger problem than one Administration. Trust in government is at an all-time low and costs are out of control. Career politicians like my opponent Ralph Alvarado are the reason why.
While folks in Central Kentucky are struggling to get by, Ralph spent his time in elected office focused on himself. In the state legislature, he cast votes that benefited his own business, putting his own profits ahead of protecting older Kentuckians facing substandard conditions in low-rated nursing homes he worked for. And after joining disgraced former Governor Matt Bevin as his running mate – and losing – he abandoned Central Kentucky to take a taxpayer-funded job in Tennessee. Ralph Alvarado won’t get rid of waste, fraud, and abuse in government because he and his wealthy corporate donors have participated in, and benefited from, it.
Sending yet another career politician like Alvarado who’s running for office for the sixth time to represent this district in Congress is like sending a fox to guard the henhouse. But it’s not just Alvarado – too many elected politicians on both sides of the aisle go to Washington to enrich themselves, and they are willing to pass bad policies that increase costs for you or your family to do it. I’ve spent my career fighting corruption, and I’m ready to continue the fight in Washington. Here are the anti-corruption policies I stand for, so that Washington finally starts working for you:
Ban stock trading and prediction markets for members of Congress ↗ (opens zachdembo.com/anti-corruption-plan at this heading)
While the rest of us are struggling to get by, our representatives are getting richer while in office. Politicians are making hundreds of thousands of dollars trading stocks in companies they oversee and have private information on, making policies that will impact those companies’ bottom lines while voting to raise costs on working people. I will push for a full ban on trading individual stock or cryptocurrency for members of Congress and their immediate families, to make sure they serve us, not their pocketbooks, and ban politicians from using prediction markets while in office.
We also need harsher penalties for rulebreakers. Right now, when politicians violate existing legislation designed to protect against insider trading, they are fined $200, barely a slap on the wrist. I support enhancing the US criminal code to ensure that kind of corruption is a crime with a harsh penalty and giving the SEC or DOJ the tools necessary to investigate and root out politicians pretending to serve us while lining their own pockets.
Ban Corporate PAC Donations ↗ (opens zachdembo.com/anti-corruption-plan at this heading)
Kentuckians know that corporations and special interests have too much power over Congress. Big corporations push their agenda using politicians they buy off through campaign donations, it is public corruption in plain sight. That is why I have pledged to never take a dime of corporate pac money, so there is no question that I serve my community and my community alone. In Congress, I will fight to ban donations from corporate pacs out right, so Congress starts serving us, not corporate special interests.
Institute a Lifetime Ban on Lobbying ↗ (opens zachdembo.com/anti-corruption-plan at this heading)
We need to close the revolving door between our elected representatives and their next lucrative job influencing our political system. In Congress, I would work across the aisle to ban lobbying by former federal officials.
Enact Term Limits ↗ (opens zachdembo.com/anti-corruption-plan at this heading)
Congress shouldn’t be a lifetime job and politics shouldn’t be a career. In Congress I will propose term limits of 12 years on members of the House and Senate and I will hold myself to that standard regardless of its passage. Public office should be about service, not holding on to power.
Get Rid of Dark Money In Politics ↗ (opens zachdembo.com/anti-corruption-plan at this heading)
When billionaires and corporations can pour unlimited money into campaigns without any transparency or accountability, ordinary voters get drowned out. And to make matters worse, the politicians who directly benefit know who they owe. As your congressman, I’ll introduce an amendment to end the Citizens United decision and get corporations out of our political fundraising system.
Codify the Justice Department’s Independence ↗ (opens zachdembo.com/anti-corruption-plan at this heading)
The Justice Department should work for the American people, not the President. The Justice Manual, the document that outlines the Department’s policies and procedures, should be codified so one figure can’t change it to their own benefit.
Independent redistricting commissions in every state ↗ (opens zachdembo.com/anti-corruption-plan at this heading)
Independent redistricting commissions in every state: Voters should pick their elected representatives, not the other way around. As politicians are in a race to the bottom, rigging the line of their districts to pick who votes for them, the rest of us are feeling left behind from both political parties. If we’re serious about restoring trust in our elections, we need an independent, nonpartisan process for drawing district lines.
Never fly first class ↗ (opens zachdembo.com/anti-corruption-plan at this heading)
This is a campaign about Central Kentucky, not about privileges or perks. Voters trust us to be responsible stewards of their tax dollars, so we shouldn’t indulge in luxuries like first-class flights on their dime while the debt continues to climb.
Recuse yourself from any conflict ↗ (opens zachdembo.com/anti-corruption-plan at this heading)
If you directly financially benefit from a vote, you shouldn’t be proposing policy to affect it. Ralph Alvarado proposed – and passed – a bill to limit medical malpractice lawsuits while working as a Medical Director, a position where he profited when it passed. That’s classic corruption that comes with a cost to the patients that can’t sue for justice when their rights are violated.
Make Housing, Healthcare, and Energy More Affordable ↗ (opens zachdembo.com/anti-corruption-plan at this heading)
Developers, big tech, and pharmaceutical companies are cutting backroom deals with our politicians, and we’re all paying the price with ballooning housing prices, sky-high healthcare costs for ordinary folks, and increased strain on our power grid. In Lexington, rent has climbed over 40% in just the past five years, with more than a quarter of families extremely cost burdened, meanwhile the big businesses in Lexington are posting record profits. All across Kentucky, we’re seeing backlash against data centers and localities like Lexington are passing data center moratoriums; meanwhile big tech is bribing the federal government to pass laws banning states from regulating data centers altogether while they contribute millions to fund Trump’s inauguration – we need local control. Pharmaceutical companies write their own pricing rules and insurance companies block coverage while their executives donate to politicians. We need to make sure regulators answer to patients, not pharmaceutical executives, and increase the housing supply by cutting the red tape for developers and protect renters from the price gouging.
source ↗ (opens the page at this passage) · zachdembo.com/anti-corruption-plan
Central Kentuckians are struggling to make ends meet. Working families can’t afford groceries, and the middle class is getting squeezed while politicians in Washington do nothing about it. Small businesses are the backbone of Central Kentucky, and they’re getting crushed by tariffs that are just taxes on our businesses and consumers. Since this trade war started, we’ve seen retaliatory tariffs hit our markets, exports drop sharply, bourbon distillers shutter shops, and our farmers unable to sell their crops. Plus, prices continue to skyrocket, with staples like beef and coffee reaching record highs and burdening hardworking families’ grocery budgets. They’re also costing Kentucky families an extra $1300 per year, and have already been ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.
My family has been farming in Kentucky since the mid-1700s. Our farmers feed this country, but they’re getting left behind. Tariffs are wrecking the soybean, cattle, and corn crops grown here in Central Kentucky. We need to protect our farmers by protecting crop insurance, expanding water resources, reforming the tax code to protect family farms, and ensuring fair and open trade.
In Congress, I’ll fight to end this senseless trade war, support free and open trade that helps our farmers and distillers compete globally, and make sure Main Street can compete with Wall Street to lower prices for us all.
source ↗ (opens the page at this passage) · zachdembo.com/priority/end-the-trade-war-and-get-costs-down-for-kentucky-families
Heading as listed on zachdembo.com/priorities ↗ (opens zachdembo.com/priorities at this heading)
The foreign policy we’re seeing isn’t “America First” – it’s playing directly into China and Russia’s hands while hurting our credibility at home and abroad. Instead of defending our allies and strengthening NATO, we’re weakening our alliances all over the globe with insults and knee-jerk foreign policy decisions based on ego and social media instead of reality and solid intelligence. And we’re spending billions of dollars on pointless foreign wars when we have many of our own problems to solve right here at home.
When democracy is attacked anywhere, it threatens democracy everywhere. We need to show countries like China and Russia that we won’t support their attempts to take over other nations. That means supporting Ukraine, protecting Taiwan’s sovereignty, and deescalating this War of Choice in Iran.
It also means we need to call out our own country’s actions. I oppose illegal and unnecessary wars. What’s happened in Iran and with the boats coming from Venezuela – and what this administration is hinting at with possible military action in Greenland and Cuba – is a dangerous abuse of power and violates international law. Bare minimum, we need congressional oversight and our international allies to agree before we go to war.
source ↗ (opens the page at this passage) · zachdembo.com/priority/stop-endless-wars-in-the-middle-east
Heading as listed on zachdembo.com/priorities ↗ (opens zachdembo.com/priorities at this heading)
I resigned from my position as a federal prosecutor because I couldn’t in good conscience stay on as this administration turned the Department of Justice into the president’s personal law firm. Since this administration took power, we’ve seen unprecedented corruption: a president accepting a $400 million private jet from a repressive monarchy, donors buying White House access through crypto coins, and weaponizing the justice system to go after the president’s political enemies and not the criminals.
But it’s not just this administration – Congress has been lining their own pockets for decades while failing the people who elected them. We need real reform: ban stock trading for members of Congress so they can’t use non-public information to profit on Wall Street, impose a lifetime lobbying ban for former members, and get rid of dark money in politics. Big business and the ultra-wealthy shouldn’t be able to buy influence in Washington.
We also need to take steps to make the Department of Justice completely independent from the whims of this president. The enforcement of our nation’s laws should be apolitical, and we need to make sure Congress makes that independence the law by moving the Department of Justice out of the executive branch and protecting the Attorney General and his or her subordinates from the political vicissitudes of an increasingly chaotic White House. I believe the Attorney General should be appointed for six year terms, and he or she should only be removable for cause.
I spent my career investigating and fighting corruption as a federal prosecutor. In Congress, I’ll shine a light on corruption through proper oversight and accountability, and I’ll work to restore people’s faith that the government works for them, not the rich and powerful.
source ↗ (opens the page at this passage) · zachdembo.com/priority/root-out-corruption-and-restore-integrity-to-government
Heading as listed on zachdembo.com/priorities ↗ (opens zachdembo.com/priorities at this heading)
People who work full-time should make enough money to feed their families and pay their bills. Public servants like teachers, farmers, and custodians are the foundation of our communities but often don’t make enough to live. Everyone should make a living wage of at least $15 an hour – but Congress hasn’t raised the minimum wage in 17 years despite prices skyrocketing.
Labor unions made the middle class. We only have the 40-hour work week, weekends, paid time off, and overtime pay because organized labor fought for it for all of us. In Congress, I’ll fully support the PRO Act, advocate for workplace safety standards, fund apprenticeship programs, protect unemployment benefits, and defend the right to collectively bargain and unionize.
Housing has become unaffordable, pricing out young people from buying their first home. I know this personally – I was only able to afford buying my home thanks to qualifying for a VA loan. We need to do everything we can to increase housing supply to reduce housing prices – funding research into cheaper construction materials, massive public-private partnerships to increase supply, expanded first-time homebuyer programs like the VA loan program that helped me to other public servants that serve their communities (like teachers, nurses, and first responders), and stopping Wall Street from buying up homes from all the rest of us. Programs that help working families achieve homeownership work; we just need to expand them so everyone has a fair shot, not just veterans like me.
source ↗ (opens the page at this passage) · zachdembo.com/priority/rebuild-the-american-dream
Heading as listed on zachdembo.com/priorities ↗ (opens zachdembo.com/priorities at this heading)
I started my career teaching 8th graders in the Mississippi Delta, and it will always be the hardest job I’ve ever had, even if I get the honor of being your next congressman. Our teachers are underpaid and undersupported, our school buildings are crumbling, and too many politicians want to defund public education rather than invest in it. This Administration and Congress have taken a huge step in the wrong direction by basically eliminating the Department of Education and its ability to help us.
In Congress, I’ll fight to fully fund our public schools and jobs training programs, fairly pay our teachers and educators, and make sure our universities have the research funding they need to stay best-in-class institutions. We also need to make sure that there is robust funding for apprenticeship and job training programs, since not every job requires a college degree and we want to be sure folks can flourish whether or not they go to college.
source ↗ (opens the page at this passage) · zachdembo.com/priority/strengthen-our-schools-and-invest-in-the-next-generation
Heading as listed on zachdembo.com/priorities ↗ (opens zachdembo.com/priorities at this heading)
Right now, data centers are being built without enough community input or environmental oversight, and they’re exhausting our power grid in ways that drive up energy bills for working families. Some are also polluting clean air and water and destroying fertile farmland. That’s not progress – that’s passing the costs of corporate expansion onto the rest of us. If a community doesn’t want a data center in their backyard, they should not be forced to have one, and state, local, and county leaders should be responsive to their community’s desires. The first job of any elected official is to listen.
In Congress, I’ll push for legislation that requires transparency and local input in data center siting decisions, holds companies accountable for their environmental impact, and makes sure Big Tech can’t offload rising energy costs onto Kentucky families. I also support commonsense AI safeguards to protect children interacting with chat bots and make sure the newest models don’t pose major risks to our cybersecurity.
I believe AI has real potential to improve lives – but it also comes with real risks and shouldn’t involve giving Big Tech a blank check. AI should work for all of us, not just for the companies building it. And as AI companies make billions, that prosperity has to be shared with the local communities without harming the community’s health or environment, or they should not be allowed in. We should know if massive layoffs or displacements are happening because of AI and corporations should have to give notice before replacing employees with AI. If this replacement happens, big tech and the companies that profit should be required to pay into a fund that helps retrain workers who lose their jobs to AI so workers don’t lose their livelihoods as our economy transitions into the AI age.
source ↗ (opens the page at this passage) · zachdembo.com/priority/commonsense-regulation-for-ai-and-data-centers
Heading as listed on zachdembo.com/priorities ↗ (opens zachdembo.com/priorities at this heading)
ICE is out of control right now; one need look no further than their killings of two Americans in broad daylight. The firing of Kristi Noem was long overdue and in no way addresses the underlying problems with that overfunded and undersupervised agency. As a former federal prosecutor, I will always be for immigration enforcement against violent criminals and a secure border, but what we’re seeing right now is ICE inspiring fear rather than public safety and killing taxpayers instead of serving them.
We must hold ICE to the same standards as all law enforcement: comprehensive training (not just 47 days), body cameras for transparency, no hiding identities behind masks, and a focus on actual violent criminals – not law-abiding people in courthouses, schools, or churches. We can have both security and humanity.
We also need immigration reform that secures our border while treating people with dignity and creating a path to citizenship for those already here working hard and contributing to our communities.
source ↗ (opens the page at this passage) · zachdembo.com/priority/commonsense-immigration-reform
Heading as listed on zachdembo.com/priorities ↗ (opens zachdembo.com/priorities at this heading)
Right now, Central Kentuckians are facing skyrocketing costs while politicians in Washington do the bidding of insurance companies instead of constituents and patients.
One in three Kentuckians rely on Medicaid for their health coverage. Cutting Medicaid hurts families, threatens our hospitals, and eliminates good-paying jobs. We need to reverse these cuts and fully fund Medicaid so that working families and seniors can access the care they need.
Central Kentuckians could also see their premiums double if ACA tax credits aren’t fully funded. These subsidies are keeping healthcare affordable for tens of thousands of families across our state. In Congress, I’ll fight to restore and expand ACA tax credits so that health insurance remains within reach for working families.
In Congress, I’ll push for a law to make drug companies charge the same here as they do overseas so Kentuckians can afford the medications they need. We also need price transparency requirements for medical procedures so people know exactly what they’re paying, caps on out-of-pocket expenses, reforms to reduce administrative overhead and waste in the insurance system, and fight for a public option in healthcare so everyone can afford care.
In Congress, I’ll work to expand health coverage and lower costs so that every Kentuckian has access to quality, affordable care.
source ↗ (opens the page at this passage) · zachdembo.com/priority/make-healthcare-affordable-for-everyone
Heading as listed on zachdembo.com/priorities ↗ (opens zachdembo.com/priorities at this heading)
The government shouldn’t have a say in how and when you start a family or in what women choose to do with their own bodies.
As the son of two physicians, I know how private and sacred the relationship between a doctor and her patient is. There’s no reason to have the government in that exam room when a patient is facing one of the most difficult decisions of her life. A woman who wants to have an abortion in her first trimester should have that right, and the extreme bans in place in states like Kentucky only means more health risks, expense, and unfairness for working class folks trying to make their own family planning decisions. Abortions should be safe, legal, and rare, and the vast majority of Kentuckians agree, as we saw with the anti-abortion Amendment 2’s resounding defeat in 2022 (including by 20 points here in the Sixth District).
Kentucky’s current law is among the most extreme in the country, and Washington Republicans are pushing to make it the law of the land nationally. I won’t let that happen.In Congress. I would be a vote to codify Roe v. Wade, which worked for over 50 years, and protect fertility treatments like IVF. I’d also want to make sure we are truly a pro-family country by fighting for things like universal pre-K and affordable child care, expanding the child tax credit, and creating incentives to reward companies that offer sufficient parental leave for their workers.
source ↗ (opens the page at this passage) · zachdembo.com/priority/let-women-make-their-own-healthcare-decisions-and-support-families
Heading as listed on zachdembo.com/priorities ↗ (opens zachdembo.com/priorities at this heading)