A Covington public defender just knocked off a sitting state representative in Northern Kentucky. Democrat Aaron Currin defeated incumbent Republican Stephanie Dietz of Edgewood in Kentucky's House District 65, pulling in 53% of the vote in a district that covers Covington, parts of Taylor Mill, and a central strip of Kenton County.
The win, reported by cincinnati.com, hands Democrats back a seat they lost in 2023 following redistricting. Currin is set to take office representing District 65 beginning in January 2027, according to LINK nky. Dietz had held the seat since 2023.
A Rematch Three Years in the Making
This was not Currin and Dietz's first meeting on a ballot. In the 2024 House District 65 race, Dietz, then the incumbent, beat Currin's challenge outright, a result confirmed in LINK nky's earlier reporting on that contest. Two years later, the same two candidates faced off again, and this time the outcome flipped.
Dietz's path to the seat had also run through a Democrat. In the 2022 general election, she defeated Democrat Buddy Wheatley for House District 65 by roughly 2 percentage points, per election data compiled by multistate.us. That 2022 cycle was a strong one for Kentucky Republicans statewide, who widened their supermajorities to 80 of 100 House seats and 31 of 38 Senate seats, according to the same source.
Two Attorneys, One Pitch to Voters
Currin and Dietz are both attorneys, though their legal backgrounds diverge: Currin has worked primarily as a public defender, the outlet reports. On the campaign trail, Currin said one of his pillars was making government more accessible and understandable for ordinary people, a message that appears to have resonated enough to flip the district after his 2024 defeat.
Election-night figures from the Kentucky Secretary of State's live results page showed the race's returns still marked unofficial as of 8:41:30 p.m. on Tuesday, a standard notation for results not yet certified. The statewide picture from that night otherwise points to Currin's win as part of a broader Democratic pickup in Northern Kentucky, continuing a district that has swung between parties in each of its last three election cycles.
