The dominoes started falling minutes after U.S. Rep. Andy Barr announced he’s running for Senate in 2026.
Just after 3:30 p.m., state Rep. Ryan Dotson, R-Winchester, announced in a social media post he plans to run for the seat Barr is vacating.
The state representative’s post came about 30 minutes after Barr’s announcement. Dotson, who’s represented the Central Kentucky district at the state Capitol since 2021, spoke in front of Winchester’s historic Holly Rood mansion in a quick video published April 22.
“We are going to fight for that open congressional seat, and I want to take the fight that I have brought to Frankfort, Kentucky, to Washington, D.C.,” he said. “… We have a strong path to victory, but we’re going to have to work very hard to get there. I’m sure it will be a crowded race, but I know that we can win this with the help of God.”
This is my ****OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT ***. Please SHARE.
Posted by Ryan Dotson on Tuesday, April 22, 2025
Dotson, 52, is a Republican who spent time in the Army and serves as a Pentecostal preacher, according to the Winchester Sun. He’s a businessman who owns a number of restaurants as well, the outlet reported in 2020.
Dotson has been on the front lines of the culture wars in Frankfort. He called for Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear’s impeachment in 2021 over a mask mandate in schools amid the coronavirus pandemic and filed a bill ahead of the 2022 session to prohibit transgender women from playing on women’s sports teams in public schools and colleges in the state.
Several of his bills have been aimed at laws in Louisville, and at rental property owners. The legislature passed one in 2024 outlawing local ordinances that prohibit landlord discrimination against renters relying on federal housing assistance, and a bill he filed this year that would have eliminated city regulations to protect children from lead poisoning in rental properties. It was dropped after Louisville Metro Council took action of its own to weaken existing local laws. Dotson has owned rental properties in the past.
Dotson was the first to enter the race, but he knows he won’t be the last. The race to replace Barr, a Republican who’s held the seat since 2013 in a district that previously leaned blue, should feature several candidates.
Former state Sen. Damon Thayer, current Sen. Amanda Mays Bledsoe and state Rep. Deanna Gordon have been mentioned as potential GOP candidates, while Kentucky Democratic Party Executive Director Morgan Eaves, former state Rep. Cherlynn Stevenson, Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman and Beshear senior adviser Rocky Adkins have been discussed as potential Democratic candidates.
This story may be updated.
Reporter Hannah Pinski contributed. Reach Lucas Aulbach at laulbach@courier-journal.com.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Kentucky legislator Ryan Dotson to run for Andy Barr congress spot