music >> People are ticked off at both parties, and I am too.

>> We often talk about policy differences.

This is about the identity of America is what we're talking about moving forward.

[MUSIC] >> Who will prevail in Kentucky's closely watched sixth district race?

>> Fentanyl still remains the number one killer of our people, but methamphetamine is really taken.

Another resurgence.

>> Thoughts from Kentucky's drug czar on progress made and challenges still on the horizon.

[MUSIC] >> What you're standing in front of here is a full size printing press.

>> And head to Louisville and party like it's 1776.

[MUSIC] >> Production of Kentucky Edition is made possible in part by the KET Millennium Fund.

>> Good evening and welcome to Kentucky Edition for Tuesday, November 3rd.

I'm Laura Rogers, thank you for joining us.

It is finally here.

Election day 2026 polls closed 30 minutes ago in the eastern time zone of Kentucky.

They'll close 30 minutes from now in the central time zone.

We will be showing you numbers at the bottom of your screen, and there's a lot to see.

Kentucky is electing a new U.S.

senator to replace Senator Mitch McConnell.

We have open races for the U.S.

House and Central, Kentucky's sixth district and the fourth district in northern Kentucky and four other House races.

Kentucky has contested seats in the state House and state Senate.

A constitutional amendment about pardons and county races all over the Commonwealth.

Let's begin with the race for the U.S.

Senate this morning, Congressman and Republican nominee for Senate, Andy Barr, cast his vote in Lexington.

He said he's confident about tonight's results and feels like his campaign has the momentum and support needed to win.

>> Yes, ma'am.

>> We hope there's a big turnout.

I think a big turnout means that we win big.

But more than just winning, I just am grateful for the chance to to represent Kentucky as my 13 year old daughter said in that TV ad, I love Kentucky.

And I would be just so honored to represent the Commonwealth of Kentucky in the United States Senate, to fight for them for bigger paychecks, for lowering the cost of living, for more jobs, more economic opportunity.

We have so many assets and capabilities in the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

We can build on those.

And I feel so confident in the future.

The future of Kentucky, the future of our country.

And when it comes right down to it, 250 years of the greatest experiment in freedom the world has ever known.

We owe it to our kids and grandkids to keep that experiment in freedom going.

>> Barr faces Democrat Charles Booker to succeed Mitch McConnell.

Booker voted early on Thursday in Louisville.

Doctor Ralph Alvarado, the Republican nominee for Kentucky's sixth Congressional District, also voted this morning in Winchester.

He shared how he's feeling about his race and offered his final plea to voters.

>> It's been a year and a half of work, so we're ready for kind of the final result to find out.

People take polls.

This is the final, ultimate poll.

So we're going to find out how the the voters decide today.

And so I'm encouraged.

We're optimistic.

We feel like we have a lot of tailwind behind us in the last several weeks.

And so we feel good about it.

But I'm I'm almost to the point where I'm relieved.

It's been a lot of work.

And so it's a lot of culmination of a lot of labor from a lot of people.

I think if people want to have reduction in taxes, if they want to make sure they have closed borders, they want to have good energy policy, they want to have a fix to the health care situation.

I think those are all things that I offer, and I've got the experience also to to be able to be ready to work day one, as soon as we get into the role, not have to learn and be trained for those things.

And so I think just make sure that people get out to vote is the biggest appeal.

It's important to have our voices heard, and that's always part of the American system, is that at the end of the day, we all kind of come together in the end anyways.

We have to make sure people show up and and cast their ballot.

I mean, I represent thousands of people that feel the same way that I do.

And I'm here to kind of to talk about the message and the things that they believe in.

So you're, you're representing a lot of other folks that are behind you that are putting in the effort, either the money or the time or the volunteer hours.

So many people that have put effort into this race.

And so I want to thank them.

It's gratitude from so many folks, and it's very humbling to be that voice.

And then it just it makes you very keenly aware that once elected, you have to make sure that you continue to be that voice and that you represent a lot of people behind you, people that either have agreed with you or don't agree with you.

Once you're in, you want to make sure that you represent everybody.

You have to come together as a district to make sure we do what's best for Kentucky and best for our home.

>> To have all these.

>> Alvarado is running to succeed Andy Barr, who has held the seat since 2012.

Yesterday we spoke with Zach Dembo, the Democratic nominee for Kentucky's sixth Congressional district, at a campaign event in Versailles.

He urged his supporters to finish strong on Election Day.

>> We are going to be working right through the polls closing tomorrow.

And so my message to these folks will be every single vote counts.

Every door knocked, every phone call.

Don't think that just because tomorrow's election day, we need to stop.

We have to run through the tape and keep up the amazing energy this campaign has.

People are ticked off at both parties, and I am too.

And so what I think is appealing to them is someone coming from a record of nonpartisan public service.

They like that I'm the only veteran in the race that I'm the only Prospect executer in the race, and that my service has been nonpartisan regardless of what party was in power.

They want to see more of that because, look, we got to take on these costs.

We got to stand up against this war in Iran, these tariffs and these Medicaid cuts.

But then after that, we need to stand up to the corruption we've seen in both parties, whether it's allowing banning stock trading for members of Congress, banning lobbying, or finally putting in term limits and getting corporate money out of politics.

Everyone, I talk to Democrat, independent Republican wants that.

We're the only campaign who's saying we're going to do that, and who's going to do that?

In D.C.

we have amazing momentum.

As you know, the polls have showed us up.

This is rated a toss up race for the first time in a long time.

And let me first just say that's because of a lot of amazing people who are here tonight and all over the district who work to put this race on the map.

In the end, y'all, this race is not about Democrat versus Republican.

It's about hope and change versus the same corrupt, failed status quo that got us into this mess in the first place.

>> Some national political analysts have listed this race in the toss up category, and it's believed the results of this race could signal what kind of night it will be for the two parties.

What should we expect as we count the votes tonight?

Can the Democrats flip the sixth district?

Will any state lawmakers go down to defeat?

And those are questions that I asked our panelists last night on Kentucky tonight.

>> Kentucky Democrats are feeling really energized, really confident that we will not only help Democrats retake the U.S.

House with the sixth Congressional District right here in Lexington, but we will flip races and seats up and down the ballot.

We are outvoting Republicans in terms of early voting.

The week before the election, we out registered the week before the registration deadline.

We registered Republicans.

So we feel confident the momentum is on our side.

And we think voters will get out and vote blue up and down the ballot.

>> There's no doubt we'll maintain our supermajorities in both the House and the Senate.

That's directly attributable to the fact that our policies and our leadership is exactly what Kentuckians are.

The vast majority of Kentuckians want.

And I don't believe at all, not for a minute, that there'll be any material change in that when we wake up Wednesday morning.

>> President Trump won Kentucky by a wide margin in 2024, more than 30 points.

Do you think he maintains that support Casey Crosby?

Do you think he maintains that support two years later, his national approval rating has dropped?

Are you seeing an erosion of confidence in the president in Kentucky?

>> No, not at all.

People understand that the country is much better under Republican leadership, and people have decisions to make.

I mean, if they want lower taxes, a secure border and safe communities, they are better under Republican leadership.

And so Kentuckians, Republicans are rallying.

And we feel very good about tomorrow, particularly with our federal races.

And like Robert said, we have no there's no chance we're going to lose our Supermajorities.

>> I think that people expect their leaders to make their lives better, and I don't think their lives have been better since Donald Trump has been reelected to the office of president.

He has escalated prices, gas prices, through tariffs, through the Iran war.

And I think that that in itself is going to drive people to the ballot box tomorrow in Kentucky and nationwide, because they expect and deserve a leader who is going to put the citizens first.

>> You can see all of last night's Hour-long discussion online on demand at ket.org/ky.

Tonight, and stick around our election coverage begins right after Kentucky edition.

We'll have all the numbers plus analysis from our panel of familiar faces.

Join us for that at 7:00 eastern six central here on KET.

[MUSIC] The longtime head of Kentucky's Office of Drug Control Policy is retiring at the end of this year after 22 years on the job.

Van Ingram has seen a lot in those years as executive director and has worked with lawmakers to prevent drug abuse, boost treatment for those in recovery, and strengthen laws to go after drug dealers.

He talked to Marvin Bartlett about this time of transition.

>> Van Ingram, we thank you for coming in today.

You many people refer to you as the state's drug czar.

What do you think of that unofficial title?

>> I've gotten used to it.

I'm not sure what exactly what it means.

You know, in the Office of National Drug Control Policy, that's where that term started.

And then a number of state drug control policy offices came along.

We all kind of got grandfathered in with the drug czar title.

>> Yeah.

You've been in this position more than 22 years.

And in law enforcement a lot longer than that.

Why did you decide now is the time to step down?

>> Well, I started as a police dispatcher when I was 19 years old.

I was 47 years ago.

It feels like at 66, the time has come.

My wife actually is retiring today and we have a family that lives in Fleming County that we can't be with as often as we need to be working five days a week.

>> So very good.

Well, there's been some good news.

There's been a downward trend in overdose deaths over really going on for about four years now.

What do you attribute that to?

>> Well, there's a lot of things.

And let me say first about that, I was asked when I was around 62, when I was going to retire, and I said, I can't retire when these numbers are this high.

We have we have so much work to do.

Now.

I feel like after four years, the universe is telling me something because we've seen declines the last four years.

So maybe it is time to go.

But to attribute what that decline is, is going to every corner in this state.

It has to do with law enforcement.

It has to do with Narcan distribution.

It has to do with recovery.

Community centers, public health workers, peer support specialists, just all across the state.

There are people that worked really hard to bring those numbers down.

>> I was going to ask you about the Narcan distribution.

Certainly that is much more readily available.

>> Yeah, we really have tried to develop a Narcan saturation plan.

So we're getting it in all the right places, the right zip codes, the places where most likely it's going to be used.

And that plan has helped us be more strategic in our distribution of naloxone.

>> Yeah.

I know at different times you've seen different drugs be the main concern.

What's the biggest concern right now?

>> Right now it's synthetic drugs that we don't have.

We can't pronounce their names.

They're being produced in clandestine labs in this country and other countries.

And that's been one of the real challenges of this job the last couple of decades, is trying to figure out what's next and how to get in front of that.

Fentanyl still remains the number one killer of our people, but methamphetamine has really taken another resurgence.

It's interesting, 20 years ago, two, 22 years ago, when I started the first Bill I worked on was a methamphetamine piece of legislation.

And now here we are.

After it had kind of gone down in number, and it certainly has gone down in clandestine laboratories.

But now the the product has resurfaced again, coming from the southwest border.

>> You talk about working on that legislation.

You've worked with both Republican and Democratic administrations.

This really is one of the most nonpartisan issues in Frankfurt, isn't it?

>> It really has been.

It's very little Partizanship has ever gotten involved in anything I've tried to do, and very grateful for that, because we've had leaders on both sides of the aisle that understood this is a serious issue that requires a serious response.

>> Yeah, you've it's an ongoing challenge also to keep up with what's out there on the street.

And one of the things your office does I know is train law enforcement groups and, and talk to sheriff's deputies.

And those talk a little bit about how what you do to help them keep up with what's going on.

>> Yeah, we try to stay in contact with law enforcement.

We were visiting law enforcement yesterday down in London, Kentucky, trying to educate them on what we're learning from a national level.

A lot of times we'll get information from a national level that we want to distribute out to the local level, whether that's a new drug, a piece of legislation that's been passed, whatever that might be, to help them do their jobs.

Recently, we worked on training for the cannabis medical cannabis.

This passed in Kentucky to make sure our police officers understand what the limits are of those drugs.

>> I know when anyone gets to this point in their career, it's a time to reflect.

When you look back, what would you consider to be one of the best accomplishments of The Office from your time there?

>> When you look back from from 2005 until 2012, prescribing of opioids in this state was completely out of control.

And it was in many places.

But Central Appalachia was really ground zero for this opioid epidemic.

And in 2012, in a special session, we passed a bill called House Bill one.

It was the media called it the pain clinic bill, or.

But the bill actually had 14 chapters.

They call it the pill mill bill.

And it actually had 14 chapters.

Only one of them dealt with pill mills or pain clinics.

But there was a comprehensive piece of legislation that just tried to pump the brakes and say, if we're going to prescribe opioids for chronic pain, let's make sure that's a measured, careful decision between a practitioner and a patient, not just a casual decision that everyone who has chronic pain needs to be taken to opioid.

Because we've learned that's not always the best outcome.

>> Do you leave this position with any unfulfilled goals?

>> I don't think so.

Look, we still lost 1100 Kentuckians last year to overdose, so that's still way too high.

The numbers need to come down even further.

And if if there's one thing I wish I could make happen, it would be to still continue to reduce the harm that drugs cause.

And so many of our people have been devastated by substance use disorder in this state.

And, and so many families have been affected.

It's it's a never ending work.

It never stops because it's always going to be some be there on some level.

>> Yeah.

Well, I know if people are dealing with this, we always want to get the information out there on where they can get immediate help.

Talk about a couple of those resources.

>> Absolutely.

So we're really proud to have a statewide call center.

We've had it since 2018, and it's 8338 KY help.

It's open from eight in the morning to ten at night, Monday through Friday.

It's open from 10 to 6 on Saturday and Sunday.

And if you leave a message anytime, someone will call you back very soon.

And it's just a really caring group of people that will help you find substance, use treatment for yourself, for a loved one, what's available, what's out there, what's a payer source?

They'll work through all of that with you.

The other resource is find Help now, ky.org.

It's run by the Kentucky Injury Prevention Research Center at UK, and it's an online treatment locator.

It's like the Expedia of drug treatment.

We also have find help recovery recovery housing as well and mental health resources can be found at that website as well.

So a lot of help right there at Find Help now ky.org.

>> Yeah.

And it is a time of transition.

Talk a little bit about the person who will be stepping into your role.

>> Well, we're excited to have Tara Hyde.

Tara most recently was CEO of People Advocating Recovery, the Kentucky chapter.

Before that, she worked on a national level with young people in recovery.

Tara has two masters and public health and public administration, so I think she's going to be a great person for the job.

>> All right.

Well, we thank you for coming in today and telling us about the things that are happening in that office.

We congratulate you on your time there and wish you well in retirement.

>> Thank you.

Marvin.

>> For Kentucky, meat processors are receiving grants from the U.S.

Department of Agriculture to help them expand their operations, which officials say will support the state's supply chain.

The federal grant adds up to $800,000.

>> One of the biggest challenges facing our livestock industry is having processing capacity to meet the needs of our farmers.

We can raise outstanding cattle, hogs, sheep and other livestock here in Kentucky, but we have to have the processing infrastructure to turn those animals into products that reach our consumers, our independent meat processors are a critical part of that equation.

They are small businesses, family businesses, employers, and important partners to our livestock producers.

They are also an essential part of keeping our agriculture dollars here in Kentucky.

>> Kentucky is cattle country, and for a lot of our farm families, livestock is the paycheck.

But for too long our producers have had too few places to take their animals.

Long waits for processing date long hauls to get there, and a market controlled by a handful of big players have all cost our farmers money and choices.

And families at the grocery store feel it, too.

This program helps change the math.

These grants go to small and medium sized, independently owned processors.

That means more competition and more local options for our farmers.

It also builds on the president's executive order promoting fair competition in livestock markets.

More competition is also how we bring down the cost of feeding our families with more meat is processed closer to home, with fewer middlemen and shorter supply chains.

That helps keep prices in check.

At the meat counter.

>> What this means is more affordability for consumers.

It means more investment into our meat processors across the state of Kentucky to where they can finally be competitive.

This fits right in line with what we've been doing at the Department of Agriculture for the state of Kentucky, and trying to get more local options available for our consumers, not just at grocery stores, but a lot of our custom meat processors to be able to sell directly to consumers all across the state of Kentucky.

This will fit directly in line with our food is Medicine program, directly in line with our school nutrition program that we're working on right here in Kentucky.

A lot of our farmers don't have the advantage of being able to take an animal from birth to the processing facility, which limits the amount of income and profitability that they can have in retaining that ownership.

What we try to do as much as possible is to get investment for farmers to go beyond the farm gate, straight to the food plate.

Our farmers are not benefiting from those high prices the way that you would think they are about $0.05 to $0.08 per dollar spent at the grocery store comes back to the American farmer, to the Kentucky producer.

And so a lot of the expense that's there is beyond the farm gate.

So what this will help us do is to be able to, to take that animal further in the process, to be able to get it to the grocery store, to the consumers that's out there and hopefully put more money back in our farmers and back in rural communities across the state of Kentucky.

>> The National Society of the sons of the American Revolution is headquartered in Louisville and will soon open a new museum and education center in its historic Main Street building.

Kelsey Starks gives us a sneak peek inside on the next inside Louisville.

>> All right, so welcome to the SA Museum, where we're standing right now is the retail space where you'll walk in off of Main Street and enter the museum.

We are obviously under construction right now, but it's still a really exciting place to be.

We're really excited to show this off.

So you can kind of see a rendering that we have set up here of what it may look like when the retail space is open, but we're really excited to show you on camera as we walk through the museum, sort of the timeline of the American Revolution and what you'll experience when you're.

>> Here.

>> This is basically a timeline of the American Revolution.

But we start even before that.

So we're looking at the colonies migrating from across the ocean to the Americas, but they're still under British rule.

Right?

So this is a really cool interactive map that you can slide and see the migrations as people travel from Europe to the Americas.

That's one thing we really want to do to engage our guests, especially the kids that come through the museum.

What you're standing in front of here is a full size printing press.

So one of the ways that the the word of the American Revolution was spread back in the 18th century was the broadsides.

That's today's newspaper, right?

When kids come through the museum, they will be able to print their own broadside and take that home with them, which is a really cool keepsake to to mark their visit to our museum.

So as you snake your way through the museum, you'll start experiencing more events that led up to the American Revolution, which includes, obviously, the Boston Massacre, but also other events like the First Continental Congress.

You also have Patrick Henry's famous speech at Saint John's Church.

So you'll see the steeple jutting up into the atrium here, and we'll have a lot of soundscapes playing throughout the museum that are really immerse yourself into the experience itself.

This will be one of the final parts of the experience here at the museum, and that is the establishment of the new country.

Right.

So what was all this for the American Revolution?

So this is really the establishment of the young Republic.

Washington's resignation, the Bill of rights.

So really establishing what this looks like moving forward.

[MUSIC] Our collection has over 4000 objects.

So it's really cool to put 18th century items on display.

But right next to those will be interactives that not only kids, but adults can use.

There's touch screens and different ways of really interacting with the American Revolution in a way that makes sense today.

This building has been on Main Street for as long as we can remember.

It goes all the way back to being a tobacco warehouse.

That's one thing we really like to point out is the atrium that you saw with the the church steeple going up into the ceiling there.

That was the atrium that they used to hang the tobacco, and they would open up the north and south sides of the building so they could air out and dry out the tobacco.

So it's a pretty cool feature of this building.

It's really important for people to know the the history of the American Revolution.

It's really where this country started.

It's where we got all our founding principles.

It's where a lot of the way our government functions today, it's what happened back in 1776.

So it's really important to educate today's kids about the founding principles of our country and what that means in today's applications.

[MUSIC] We couldn't be in a better spot in World War.

Right across the street from the Louisville Slugger Museum, one of the most popular tourist attractions in Louisville.

So if we could just pull some people over here to come check out our museum, that would be wonderful.

And we're really fortunate to be a part of so many other nonprofits and museums that are, like you said, right here on Museum Row.

So it's a really great spot to be.

>> You can learn more about the sons of the American Revolution and how their headquarters ended up in Louisville on the next inside Louisville Sunday at noon, 11 central only on KET.

We will recap tonight's election results, of course, tomorrow night on Kentucky edition.

Plus, when people can't get to the grocery store, bring the store to them.

We'll tell you about the third anniversary of Lexington's mobile market program.

We certainly hope that you will catch us back here again tomorrow night at 6.30 eastern, 5.30 central for Kentucky Edition, where we inform, connect and inspire.

Subscribe to our Kentucky Edition Email Newsletters Watch full episodes and clips at ket.org.

Email your story ideas to Public Affairs at KET dot and follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

To stay in the loop.

[MUSIC] And of course, stick around as our election coverage gets underway right now here on KET.

Thank you so much for joining us.

Have a good evening.