House Republican Whip Tom Emmer told a crowd in Nicholasville on Wednesday, “I'm not going to say that you have the dumbest governor in the United States,” before adding that the Kentucky governor should hope Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz does not die soon. The comment came during a get-out-the-vote rally meant to boost Republican congressional candidate Ralph Alvarado ahead of early voting in a competitive House race.
Emmer, a Minnesota Republican, made the remarks while campaigning for Alvarado in Kentucky's open 6th Congressional District, according to WHAS11. The rally focused on the race to replace Andy Barr, who represented the district for nearly 14 years before vacating his House seat to run for Mitch McConnell's Senate seat, the station reports. Emmer also predicted Alvarado would become the district's next congressman.
Beshear's team did not let the dumbest-governor line pass quietly. Eric Hyers, who managed Beshear's 2019 and 2023 campaigns, said Emmer's remarks insulted the more than 60% of Kentuckians who think Beshear is doing a good job, per the same station's report. Hyers also pointed to 35 rural hospitals he said may close in Kentucky and to what he described as record-high gas and diesel prices residents are paying, the outlet notes.
A District Caught Between Two Elections
Alvarado, a Trump-endorsed Republican, is competing against Democrat Zach Dembo, a former federal prosecutor who has been backed by Beshear, for the open 6th District seat, according to The Courier Journal. The district stretches from Lexington to Georgetown, Richmond and the surrounding rural counties, as reported by lpm.org.
The electorate's split personality helps explain why both parties are pouring in resources. The district voted for Donald Trump by 15 points in 2024, but the year before that it backed Beshear by 20 points, lpm.org reports. Voter registration between Democrats and Republicans is nearly even, with another roughly 70,000 voters registered outside both major parties, according to a separate report from Spectrum News 1.
Forecasters Shift the Race to a Toss-Up
The Cook Political Report moved its rating of the 6th District from Lean R to Toss Up on Oct. 23, the Courier Journal reports. Sabato's Crystal Ball made a similar shift around the same time, according to lpm.org's account of the race. Democratic candidate Zach Dembo has described the contest as a national bellwether. WHAS11 says the result may provide an early signal on election night of which party prevails in the broader midterms.
Independent PACs backed by billionaires and dark-money groups have spent more than $10 million on the Dembo and Alvarado campaigns combined, not counting the candidates' own spending, lpm.org reports. Alvarado has emphasized his desire to cut taxes, and the single debate between the candidates also touched on affordability and government spending, according to the same outlet. At a Jessamine County Republican Party event, Alvarado framed the contrast simply, saying his side wants to reduce taxes while the other side wants to increase them, per WHAS11's reporting.
Barr Weighs In From the Senate Trail
Barr, now the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate, has urged constituents to keep moving forward with Alvarado, saying the candidate shares their values, WHAS11 reports. Barr acknowledged in mid-October that the 6th District race could be viewed as a toss-up, but he said the race should not be close if Republican voters turn out, according to the station. He also said polls taken late in a race tend to understate Republican performance, per the same report.
Barr separately raised questions in August about a $212.9 million federal rural health plan, saying it did not clearly identify or prioritize the 35 Kentucky hospitals Beshear had repeatedly said could close, according to a statement from the Office of Congressman Andy Barr. Beshear has said decisions about his own political future would wait until his tenure as Democratic Governors Association chair concludes, though he has said he would consider a presidential run, according to the Lexington Herald-Leader.
Three days of early voting begin Thursday ahead of Election Day on Nov. 3, per Spectrum News 1's reporting. With forecasters calling the 6th District a toss-up and both parties' leadership making personal appeals on the trail, the race is shaping up as one of the closest-watched contests on the ballot.
