124.

That's the number of days remaining before Kentucky's primary election contest on May the 19th.

Now that the field is set, Kentucky Edition will bring you one on one interviews with top contenders and some key federal races.

Tonight, we speak with current.

Republican State Representative Ryan Dotson, who, after five years in.

Frankfort, wants to level up to Washington as a congressman for Kentucky's sixth congressional district.

There are a handful of other contenders in the Republican primary for that district.

Dotson tells us why he's ready for Capitol Hill and what he wants to do.

If he gets there.

Here's part one of my interview, recorded earlier today for our coverage of election 2026.

Tell us a little bit about your background before we get into why you're running for the sixth district.

Well, I'm currently a state representative that represents the 73rd district, which encompasses all of Clark County and a huge portion of Fayette County.

And I am a transplant.

I'm originally from the mountains of eastern Kentucky.

I'm a Pike County boy, but I moved down here after getting out of the military.

I went into the Army and I got a job at the University of Kentucky.

And the medical center.

I was an X-ray tech.

I got my schooling while I was in the army.

So after it was either go into the coal mines or go into the army for me, and I seen the, the, the havoc that it took upon my father.

And he was a sixth generation coal miner.

And I didn't want that life for me and my family.

So I chose the military.

And so I moved down here after getting out of the military and settled in Winchester.

Been there for 33 years now.

And, being a public servant for many years as a pastor, been a business for many years.

And, I took on six years ago.

The opportunity to run for this seat and, try to really impact in a, in a powerful way as much as I possibly can.

So why do you want to leave Frankfort and go to Washington?

Well, I told my wife about three years ago.

We knew that, Mitch McConnell would probably, move on after the session.

And so and we knew Andy Barr had aspirations and I told my wife, I said, if these things fall into line, I said, I believe that would kind of be my open door opportunity because these opportunities don't come very often, these open seats.

And she said, if it happens that way, she said, I'll be fully behind you.

And sure enough, it happened exactly the way we had talked about three years ago.

So so it was kind of a sign to me to get involved and to, you know, pursue this opportunity.

And you got in early.

I mean, as soon as Andy Barr had announced that he was going to pursue the U.S.

Senate, you were quick on his heels to get into the six district race.

Do you think that's benefited you in some way, or what can you point to that says, this really was the great call, the right call to make to get in early, right?

I came out 30 minutes after he did because I had been chomping at the bit.

I've been working with his staff at the time, trying to coordinate the timing of it, because I think there's a huge benefit in getting in early and what it was.

It helped me to solidify a lot of local support.

It helped me to get out early enough to let people know who I am.

And I do have a reputation in Frankfort and in our area, for being a conservative fighter.

And so I wanted to get out early enough, be vocal, solidify to shore up some support.

And it's paid off really well.

Yeah.

And for those who may not quite know how this works, you do have to forfeit your seat.

And in the state House in order to pursue this Washington seat.

So, and you were you had decided that a long time ago that this was going to be the path for you.

Yeah.

What are you hearing from the voters in the sixth district?

Because we talk often about how well the sixth district has been held by Republican Andy Barr since 2013.

There is a history of the sixth district being both a Republican and Democratic kind of vacillates.

Right.

Depending.

And so what is it you're hearing from voters in the sixth district that 40 something percent of it is in Lexington, right?

Fayette County.

What are you hearing that they want you to take on that is the same or different than the current congressman, Andy Barr?

Well, we do know that the Democrats have targeted the sixth district to flip the seat.

But when you look at the last several years of Andy Barr running in this district, he won this district by like 25% in November, right?

And I think 27 percentage points.

And Donald Trump had won by 15 points.

So we know that we have trended more red than purple as of the last several elections.

But what we're hearing is that people want a conservative fighter.

They want a voice, not an echo.

In Washington, D.C., they want somebody that's going to go there and not be the status quo, not be just another politician.

And that's something I'm not.

I want to be a public servant, and I really want to go up there and really try to impact this district and help bring funding back to this district, fix our infrastructure.

Recruit.

Fortune 500 companies.

Because, really, central Kentucky is the heart of Kentucky, and Kentucky's the heart of the United States of America.

Geographically and within a day's drive, we're within 75% of driving to all of America.

And I think we're really geographically positioned for great growth.

And I think with the right leadership and, I think I can be able to do that and bring that back to the sixth district.

Do you think that you will if you are elected to advance in the primary?

And then when the general that you would affirm the second term, Trump, second term of Donald Trump, would you always side with him, or are there instances and even issues that you think of now?

And would you differ from the president?

Well, I look at what he's been able to accomplish, and it's been pretty amazing given just a year, right out a year, to try to right the wrongs of Joe Biden and our economy and where we have been heading over the last several years and seeing the work that he's done.

I think he's done a phenomenal job.

And I think that given more time, we'll see a lot of those wrongs made right.

And I think that we just have to trust, I think the big, beautiful bill that was passed is going to be jet fuel to the economy.

And we're starting to see that.

We're starting to see, inflation come down.

We're starting to see the, interest rates are starting to come down.

We're getting stronger economically.

We're having more jobs created, more manufacturing coming back to America from overseas.

So, it's still early, and only time will tell.

But I believe we're on a great trajectory of growth.

You experience, you know, that many Americans and many Kentuckians don't feel like we're on the right path to growth, right?

They still look at their grocery bills, they look at their heating bills, and they think, gosh, things are not better.

But perhaps even worse when the president, when he came in on Inauguration Day, had said on day one he could do x, Y, and Z. How do you respond to Kentuckians who say, I don't feel any of the positives that you just mentioned?

I think many do that I have talked to.

You know, there's going to always be a group of folk that doesn't there, whatever Trump does, and I understand that.

But here's the thing is that given the status of where we were a year ago and to see where we are today, we are much better off.

And so I think we're going to start seeing that trending upward, even more so over the next six months to a year.

So I just want to encourage people to be patient and just let things work out.

As you know, in Mercer County, as of late, we've seen Apple come over there, bringing some manufacturing jobs.

We're seeing GE coming back, bringing their, industries back here to Kentucky.

So we're seeing a lot of things that are going to be very positive in the very near.

Future in 2022.

You were able to muscle through the bill on Save women's sports, right.

That would ban transgender, girls who are not biologically female at birth from participating in middle and high school sports.

Right.

When you think about how you crafted your agenda.

Did did your ambition to pursue a higher political office?

Was that the motivation for sponsoring and bringing those bills?

Tell us how that works.

Absolutely not.

That wasn't even in my mindset at the time.

I championed the fact that when I ran and campaigned for this seat, that I would push back against ideology, that was non conforming to what we as Kentuckians believe in.

And to take the path of allowing biological males to play girls sports is really it's it's a lack of common sense in my opinion, being a pastor, being who I am.

I've got two daughters, I've got granddaughters.

And so I never looked forward to using this as a stepping stone to go to a higher office at all.

It was just something that I thought it was something of a conviction.

We'll have more of my interview with six district congressional candidate Ryan.

Dotson tomorrow night on Kentucky Edition.

Stay tuned.