Politics
Outside spending tops $6.2 million in Kentucky’s 6th District contest
Political committees have spent nearly equal sums backing and opposing the candidates in Kentucky’s closely watched 6th Congressional District race. Republican Ralph Alvarado’s allies hold a narrow edge in total spending, with Election Day about two weeks away.
Political action committees have spent more than $6.2 million in Kentucky’s 6th Congressional District race, according to Federal Election Commission reports filed Monday, Oct. 19, with Election Day about two weeks away.
Committees supporting Republican Ralph Alvarado and opposing Democrat Zach Dembo have spent nearly $3.2 million combined. That includes about $1.7 million backing Alvarado and $1.4 million opposing Dembo. The largest share — roughly $2.6 million — came from No Going Back PAC, which is tied to President Donald Trump’s political operation. MAGA Inc., Americans Ready to Work and Protection Freedom PAC also reported spending in the race.
On the Democratic side, committees have spent about $895,000 supporting Dembo and roughly $2.2 million opposing Alvarado, for a total of about $3.1 million. Kentuckians Not Corruption accounted for about $1.7 million of that spending. Gov. Andy Beshear’s political committee, In This Together, reported spending $500,000 on ads against Alvarado. End Citizens United, VoteVets and Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates were among the other groups active in the district.
The spending is going toward television and digital advertising, text messages and other campaign outreach. Federal law bars PACs from coordinating their spending with candidates’ campaigns.
Alvarado’s campaign criticized a $500,000 contribution from LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman to Kentuckians Not Corruption. In a Friday news release, Alvarado called it “dirty Epstein Class money fueling Zach Dembo’s campaign” and said Dembo should apologize.
Dembo campaign manager Olivia Dupree said in a statement that Dembo “doesn’t solicit money from shady corporate interests or dark money donors” and would not be beholden to them. Dupree also accused Alvarado of raising Jeffrey Epstein’s name only when it became politically convenient, and said Dembo had called for the release of the files since the start of his campaign.
The outside spending comes alongside fundraising by the candidates’ own campaigns. Dembo reported nearly $2.9 million in total receipts, including $1.4 million in the third quarter. Alvarado reported nearly $2.2 million overall, including more than $666,000 in third-quarter receipts.