reinstated in 20.

0, 6, As we look ahead to the 2025 Kentucky General Assembly.

There are just a few new Democratic members of the Kentucky House, Joshua Joshua Watkins will represent one part of Louisville and he comes with more than 10 years of local government experience.

Our June Leoffler spoke with him inside a state-of-the-art sports facility.

One of the biggest recent investments in his district.

♪ ♪ >> State House district.

42 stretches from German town, their old Louisville and then to the West in home to Louisville's historically black neighborhoods.

>> All of this and 42 is historic.

I go to places like hawks corner off of Gas Avenue.

You think about going to the dainty their that event mean people generations of done that and same thing.

You know, Louisville and the same thing in the neighborhood by Shawnee.

>> Joshua Watkins was elected to Kentucky's House of Representatives this year.

He grew up in Florida but moved to Hopkinsville Kentucky in his teens.

His fathers from there.

He spent much of his adult life in Louisville working for Metro government.

I started.

>> A metro in what was called the community Services and revitalization agency that ultimately became baking of public property.

And we were putting bacon properties back to productive use that included teaching people how to buy a side yard.

That was next to their house that they were maintaining.

But then also got to understand that we live our lives and very interconnected ways.

So what sir, if you're driving down the street, what's an abandoned house for you?

It could be memories for someone who used to live there.

It could be, unfortunately, in some places the site of a tragedy that happened.

And so you've got to see how they can properties are connected to things like.

Violent crimes and food deserts and all that type of stuff.

>> That were connected him to his community.

Then he started looking at the nuts and bolts of city hall.

>> From safe and healthy neighborhoods, I got to work on projects like violence prevention with some amazing organizations then I moved into the office of Performance Improvement because at that time, you know, I'm 5, 6, plus years and metro millennials, super and beaches.

And I felt like government just moved away to slow is that of a friend of mine?

Who works and Metro government is BJ Atkins and she would talk about this analogy between the hard skate and the heart skate.

I got my heart skate.

We're doing community work, but I wanted to get the heart skate by underneath the hood stuff.

So I became a project management NE got certified all these other credentials and things and I started working on making government more efficient more optimal, more responsive, better customer service.

>> Watkins is leaving that job to serve in the state House, less hospitable place for a Democrat.

>> I want to be able to connect people to knowledge, information and resources to tackle some of the things and the needs.

And I know people haven't district 42 like affordable housing.

I want to support working families is a true Democrat issues right?

I want to be able to support public education and stand up for human rights and reproductive rights.

And I want to be able to tackle cost of living issues 6 people as it regards to health and wellness in our most at-risk populations.

Some of the things that I've got to work on and local government like homelessness.

>> He is joining 4 other freshman Democrats together.

He caused the Fab 5 who he says are ready to do the job for Kentucky June Leffler.

>> Thank you, June Joshua Watkins is filling Democrat could tour herons seat hair and left her post to run for the state Senate which she won and