Ask David anything directly. Every question gets a personal response and is published here within 48 hours. No form letters, no staff filters.
Q: 20 year United States Army Veterans. My concerned with military retirees Healthcare.
A: Eugene, thank you for your service. Twenty years is a long career, and you and your family have earned every benefit that comes with it.
The honest answer is that VA healthcare has been chronically underfunded for decades, and the people paying the price are the veterans who were promised better when they signed up to serve. That is unacceptable, and fixing it has to start with treating the VA like the obligation it is rather than a line item to be cut whenever Washington needs to find savings.
Mental healthcare has to be part of that conversation, because it is healthcare in every sense that matters. For veterans who carry the weight of what they have seen and done in service to this country, access to real mental healthcare is not optional, it is owed, and treating it as anything less is a failure of the promise we made to them.
In Congress, I will fight to fully fund the VA and make mental healthcare a meaningful part of how we care for veterans, rather than the afterthought it has become.
Q: How can you support a single mom raising kids and the youngest child with special needs afford to buy her home? As well as fix our public school special education department.
A: Davita, your question hits home for a lot of people. As a dad and as someone whose foundation works with kids every day, I know how thin a single mom's margin gets when one of those kids needs more support than the system is built to give. I have written a bill that should help relieve the growing cost of housing in our community, by driving developers to build more of the kind of homes we need instead of more student housing. You can check out the whole policy on our policy page, but in summary, if local governments had the tools to make single family homes and affordable housing projects more profitable we would not only see more of them being built in our city, but would see the cost of all housing decrease as our capacity increases. As to your second question, we need more federal dollars allocated to our education programs full stop. Programs that keep our children fed, or provide services for those with needs should be at the top of the list for additional grant and funding opportunities.
Q: I'm open-minded but I'm not going to lie, the democratic party makes it really hard to take them seriously. What makes you different from the people running your party right now?
A: I've always believed that actions speak louder than words. While politicians in Washington are giving speeches, I've been building businesses and making payroll. While they're posting on social media, I've been creating jobs with healthcare benefits. While they're arguing on cable news, I've been writing actual legislation with real numbers that you can read on my website right now. That's not what you're used to hearing from a Democrat, and that's the point.
I'm not running to represent the national party. I'm running to represent the 6th District of Kentucky. Judge me by what I've done and what I plan to do, not by the letter next to my name.
Democracy
Q: What is your position on school vouchers?
A: Public dollars for public schools. That's it. I oppose school vouchers because they take money out of the public school system that the vast majority of Kentucky's kids depend on and redirect it to private institutions with less accountability and less transparency. Our public schools are already underfunded. The answer to that isn't to drain them further.
This issue is also very personal for me. My kids attend public school, I founded an education nonprofit and I serve on the board of the KCTCS Foundation because I believe in the power of public education to change lives. I have skin in this game. If we want better outcomes for our kids, we invest in the schools they're already in. That means funding them properly, paying teachers what they're worth, and building the kind of career and technical pathways that connect students to real jobs in their communities. You don't fix a roof by moving to a different house. You fix the roof.
Education
Q: I work in IT and I'm genuinely worried about AI replacing my job in the next few years. What's your take?
A: Your concern is legitimate, and anyone telling you otherwise isn't paying attention. Look at how major tech companies operate. They generate billions in revenue with a fraction of the workforce a traditional employer would need. AI is going to push that model into every sector of the economy, from accounting firms to hospitals to IT departments. That's not science fiction. That's the next five to ten years.
The question isn't whether this transition is coming. It's whether we let it happen to workers or manage it with them. We need legislation that requires companies benefiting from AI-driven productivity gains to invest in retraining and placement for the workers those gains displaced. If a company replaces your job with a system that costs a fraction of your salary, some of that savings needs to go toward making sure you land on your feet.
And we need to be honest about where this is heading. As entire industries restructure around this technology, retraining alone won't be enough. We're going to have to have a serious national conversation about universal basic income. Not because people don't want to work, but because the economy we're building may not need everyone working forty hours a week to function. We need people in Congress who understand that and aren't afraid to say it out loud.
Jobs
Q: Kentucky teachers are some of the lowest paid in the country. What can you actually do about that from Washington?
A: Federal funding for education needs to go up, and it needs to come with requirements that the money reaches classrooms and teacher salaries, not administrative overhead. I'd push for expanded Title I funding tied to teacher compensation benchmarks. My healthcare plan matters here too. If we can bring down insurance premiums by 15-20%, that's real money back in a teacher's household budget even before we get to salary. But I won't pretend the federal government can single-handedly fix teacher pay. It takes state action too. What I can do is make sure federal policy helps instead of hurts.
Education
Q: I'm a teacher and I can't afford to buy a house anywhere near where I work. What can you do about housing costs?
A: Rachel, That's not just a housing problem. That's a community problem. When teachers, firefighters, and nurses can't afford to live where they work, everybody loses. And it's not an accident. America is short millions of homes because we're simply not building enough of the right housing in the right places.
That's why I wrote the Building Homes, Building Communities Act. The core idea is straightforward. Instead of Washington telling communities what to build, we let communities decide what they need, whether that's affordable apartments, workforce townhomes, or starter homes for young families like yours, and then we use the tax code to make it more profitable for developers to build exactly that. No federal zoning mandates. No one-size-fits-all program. Your community identifies what's missing and the developers who deliver it get rewarded.
Not every town has the same housing problem, and the federal government shouldn't pretend it knows better than the people who live there. But what it can do is make sure the incentives point in the right direction. Right now they don't. My bill fixes that. Details at davidkloiber.com/policy/affordable-housing.
Housing
Q: I work in the bourbon industry. Every time there's a trade war we're the ones who get hurt. How would you protect Kentucky's exports?
A: You're right, and it's not theoretical. Every time Washington picks a trade fight, bourbon is one of the first things that gets hit with retaliatory tariffs. Kentucky's signature industry gets used as a bargaining chip in disputes that have nothing to do with you, and the workers and families who depend on it pay the price.
Here's the core problem. Right now, one person can slap tariffs on entire industries with no vote, no debate, and no accountability to the people whose livelihoods are on the line. That's not how our system is supposed to work. The Constitution gave Congress the power to regulate commerce with foreign nations for a reason. Tariffs are economic warfare, and just like military action, they should require congressional approval before they're deployed.
I want to bring that authority back to Congress where it belongs. If a tariff is going to put Kentucky jobs at risk, the people who represent those workers should have a vote before it happens, not after the damage is done. That's not anti-trade and it's not isolationist. It's accountability. The same principle behind my Defend America First Act applies here. The executive branch should not be able to make unilateral decisions that directly hurt working families without the approval of their elected representatives.
Bourbon is Kentucky. It's part of our history, our economy, and our identity. It deserves a representative who will fight to make sure it's never collateral damage in someone else's political agenda.
Economy
Q: Where do you stand on what's happening in Gaza?
A: The United Nations has defined what is happening in Gaza and the West Bank as a genocide. That word carries weight, and we should not look away from it. The United States has a responsibility to use its influence to protect civilian life, support humanitarian aid, and push for stabilization in the region.
We should do everything in our power to put the safety of people first in our dealings abroad. That is not a partisan statement. It's a basic expectation of a country that claims to lead on human rights.
Democracy
Q: Groceries cost 30% more than they did a few years ago. What can a congressman actually do about that?
A: Honestly? A congressman can't wave a wand and lower grocery prices. Anyone who tells you otherwise is lying to get your vote. But there are real things we can do. We can go after consolidation in the food and agriculture industry that's letting a handful of companies set prices. We can lower the costs that squeeze family budgets from every other direction, like prescription drugs and insurance premiums, so you have more money left for groceries. And we can make sure trade policy doesn't blow up export markets for Kentucky farmers, because when farmers get hurt, that eventually hits your grocery bill too. I'm not going to make you a promise I can't keep. But I'll be honest about what's actually driving costs and go after the parts Congress can fix.
Economy
Q: Do you support legalizing marijuana?
A: Yes. I want to reclassify marijuana under the Controlled Substances Act and move toward full legalization at the federal level. The current system is absurd. We're ruining people's lives over something that's legal in half the states, and we're spending enforcement dollars that could go toward actual public safety priorities. I also support eliminating mandatory minimums for nonviolent drug offenses. We've been locking people up for decades and it hasn't solved anything. It's time to be honest about that.
Public Safety
Q: With everything happening around the country with IVF, where do you stand on fertility treatments and contraception?
A: I support full access to both without government interference. The idea that politicians are debating whether families can use fertility treatments to have children is insane to me. These are deeply personal medical decisions and the government should stay out of them. I'll vote to protect access to contraception and IVF at the federal level, full stop.
Healthcare
Q: How do you plan to support small farmers in the district?
A: Linda, small farmers are the backbone of communities like Winchester, and they're getting squeezed from every direction. Input costs keep climbing, market access favors the big operations, and one bad health event can wipe out a family farm entirely. My healthcare plan directly addresses that last piece by cutting out pharmacy middlemen and negotiating fair drug pricing, which could save farming families around $1,200 a year. That's real money when margins are already razor-thin (davidkloiber.com/policy/healthcare). I'm also developing a full agricultural plan focused on expanding local and regional market access, protecting small producers from consolidation, and making sure federal farm policy works for Kentucky's family operations, not just corporate agriculture. I grew up here, I've watched farms disappear, and I'm not going to pretend that's just the free market at work when the rules have been written to favor the biggest players.
Economy
Q: What is your position on infrastructure spending in rural counties?
A: Rural infrastructure is very critical. Our roads, bridges, and broadband access have been neglected for too long. I support directing federal infrastructure dollars to counties that need it most, not just the population centers. That means fixing our rural bridges, expanding broadband to every household, and investing in water systems that are decades overdue for replacement.
Infrastructure
Q: What do you think about nuclear energy?
A: I think it has to be part of the conversation. You can't talk seriously about reducing carbon emissions and take nuclear off the table. Modern reactor designs are safer and more efficient than what most people picture when they hear 'nuclear.' I'd support federal investment in next-generation nuclear research and I think Kentucky should be open to it. Clean, reliable, good-paying jobs. I'm a pragmatist on energy. I want a mix that actually works, not an ideological litmus test.
Environment
Q: Where do you stand on public education funding?
A: I believe public education is the foundation of a strong community. Teachers in Kentucky are underpaid relative to neighboring states, and our schools need more resources, not less. I support increasing federal investment in public schools, raising teacher pay to competitive levels, and expanding access to pre-K programs. I oppose voucher schemes that drain funding from the public schools that serve 90% of our kids. Every child in the 6th District deserves a quality education regardless of their zip code.
Education
Q: Kentucky American Water wants another rate increase – our bills are already $80-90 a month. Meanwhile there are PFAS concerns at the Kentucky River intake and harmful algal blooms in the reservoirs every summer. What can you do to prevent predatory increases from underperforming utility companies?
A: You're paying more and getting less, and you have every right to be frustrated. Kentucky American Water is a subsidiary of a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange. Their obligation is to their shareholders. Your water bill is their revenue. Every infrastructure upgrade gets folded into the next rate case and passed on to you, and nobody is asking loudly enough why ratepayers are bearing the full cost of cleaning up contamination they didn't cause.
From Congress, I would push to strengthen federal PFAS standards and make the companies that manufactured these forever chemicals pay for the cleanup, not the families drinking the water. I would fight for federal infrastructure funding so the cost of meeting clean water standards doesn't land entirely on your monthly bill. And I would support stronger oversight tools so that when a utility raises rates, there's real accountability for whether that money is actually improving your water or just improving their balance sheet.
You shouldn't have to choose between affording your water bill and trusting what's in your water. Both should be a given.
Environment
Q: Honestly, can a Democrat even win this district? I don't want to waste my primary vote on someone who loses in November.
A: Fair question. This district voted for Trump by 15 points. It also voted overwhelmingly for Andy Beshear. That's not a contradiction. It tells you people here vote for the person, not the party. The way you win this seat isn't by being the loudest Democrat in the room. It's by showing people something they don't expect: concrete plans, common sense values, and the willingness to talk about what you'll do instead of shouting about what you're against.
I've written legislation, I've built businesses and made payroll, and I've served on Lexington's city council. I am giving the people of the sixth district something to vote for instead of something to vote against, and that's the kind of candidate that has been proven to win in Central Kentucky.
Democracy
Q: Should members of Congress be allowed to trade stocks?
A: No. Members of Congress sit in classified briefings, shape legislation that affects entire industries, and vote on regulations that can make or break companies. The idea that they can trade individual stocks while doing all of that and we're just supposed to trust them is absurd.
The STOCK Act is on the books to prohibit trading on insider knowledge, but enforcement is weak, penalties are negligible, and members continue to make suspiciously well-timed trades with no real consequences. You can't effectively police whether a specific trade was based on nonpublic information. The only honest solution is to take the opportunity off the table entirely.
I support a full ban on individual stock trading for members of Congress. Put your assets in a blind trust, invest in broad index funds, or divest. If you've been given the privilege of representing 760,000 people, your portfolio shouldn't conflict with your vote.
Democracy
Q: My daughter has been on a waiting list for a therapist for four months. Her insurance covers it in theory but there are no providers in network. Should insurers be required to actually cover mental health the same way they cover everything else?
A: That's not coverage. That's a piece of paper. If your daughter had a broken arm, you wouldn't wait four months. You'd go to the ER and your insurance would pay for it. But because it's mental health, the system treats a four-month waiting list as normal.
It's not normal. It's the predictable result of a system that pays mental health providers significantly less than other medical professionals for comparable work. When therapists and psychiatrists can't make a living accepting insurance, they stop accepting it. That's why the waiting list exists. Not because there aren't providers, but because your insurance doesn't pay them enough to keep the lights on.
We need to treat mental healthcare like healthcare. That means closing the reimbursement gap so that more people enter the field and stay in network, and it means holding insurers accountable when the coverage they sell doesn't actually connect families to care. Your daughter deserves better than a waiting list.
Healthcare
Q: We lost a lot of people to overdoses in our community. The settlement money came but nothing's changed. Where is it going?
A: Stephanie, I hear you, and you deserve an honest answer. Billions of dollars have come out of the opioid settlements, and in too many communities the money has arrived without the results following it. That's unacceptable.
Here's how it works. The settlement funds are distributed to state, county, and local governments, and it's largely up to your local and state representatives to decide how that money gets spent. That means the accountability starts close to home. If you're not seeing treatment centers, recovery programs, or mental health services showing up in your community, the question to ask is what your local officials are doing with the money they've already received.
From Congress, what I can do is push for transparency and oversight requirements on how those dollars are spent. Communities that lost people to this crisis deserve to know exactly where every dollar went and whether it's actually reaching the families and programs that need it. I also want to make sure we're building the long-term infrastructure that prevents the next crisis, which means investing in mental health providers, reentry programs, and the kind of community-based treatment that actually works.
The settlements were supposed to be accountability for what the pharmaceutical industry did to places like ours. If the money disappears into general budgets and bureaucracy, that's a second betrayal. I won't let that happen quietly.
Healthcare
Q: What's your position on right-to-work?
A: I think workers should have the right to organize and bargain collectively without interference. Right-to-work laws are designed to weaken unions by letting people benefit from collective bargaining without paying into it. That's not freedom, that's free-riding. I've created union jobs. I provide healthcare for my employees. The AFL-CIO endorsed me when I ran for mayor because of my record, not my rhetoric. I believe workers do better when they have a seat at the table, and the data backs that up.
Jobs
Q: China buys a lot of Kentucky's agricultural exports. How do you get tough on China without killing our farmers' markets overseas?
A: That's the right question, and most politicians dodge it. The answer is you have to be strategic, not reckless. I built a rare earth magnet recycling company specifically to reduce our dependence on China for critical materials, so I'm not soft on China. But broad tariffs that blow up agricultural export markets hurt Kentucky farmers without actually changing China's behavior. Trying to appear tough while harming your own constituents fails on both fronts. We need to make sure that the people writing our foreign policy understand that the balance between reigning in China's behavior on the world stage, and protecting the livelihoods of our own people, should always favor our own residents.
Economy
Q: Where do you stand on the Second Amendment? A lot of Democrats want to take our guns.
A: Nobody's taking your guns. I support the Second Amendment and I support responsible gun ownership. What I don't support is pretending we don't have a problem. The amount of gun violence we see in this country is absolutely staggering, and requires some real conversations about what will actually make our families safer. The fact of the matter is that we have a mental health crisis in this country and we're not treating it seriously. We don't have enough providers, we don't reimburse the ones we have at rates that keep them in practice, and families are waiting months to get their kids in to see someone. When we fail people on mental health, the consequences show up everywhere. In our schools, in our communities, and in the headlines that make all of us sick to our stomachs.
Public Safety
Q: Would you vote to codify Roe v. Wade?
A: Yes. I'd co-sponsor that legislation on day one. I have a daughter and a wife, and I refuse to live in a world where they can be denied medical treatment, especially when their lives are at risk. Reproductive healthcare is healthcare, and the government has no business standing between a patient and her physician. I know this district has a range of opinions on this, and I respect that. But my position is clear and I'm not going to hedge it depending on who I'm talking to.
Healthcare
Q: The homelessness situation downtown has gotten worse. Is that a housing problem or a mental health problem?
A: It's both, and pretending it's only one or the other is how we end up doing nothing. Some people are homeless because they can't afford rent. Some are dealing with addiction or mental illness. A lot of them are dealing with all of it at once. On the housing side, my Building Homes, Building Communities Act is designed to get more affordable units built. On the mental health side, we need real funding for treatment and we need to fix the insurance system so people can actually access the care that supposedly exists. And I'll say something that might be unpopular: you can't arrest your way out of homelessness. You have to give people a path forward.
Housing
Q: Name one issue where you disagree with your own party.
A: My disagreement with the Democratic Party isn't on a single policy. It's on how we talk to people. We lose races like this one because we lead with ideology instead of plans, and we lecture instead of listen. We show up in districts like ours with the same talking points that work in Brooklyn and San Francisco and wonder why nobody's buying it.
People here aren't stupid. They can tell when someone is reciting a script. They want to know what you're actually going to do and how it's going to work. That's why I sat down and wrote the legislation myself. Not talking points, not principles, actual bill text on drug pricing, wages, housing, and war powers. You can read every word of it on my website right now. I'm the only candidate in this race who's done that.
I'm a Democrat because I believe in the values of this party. But I think we've gotten so comfortable with our own language that we've forgotten how to talk to the people we're trying to represent. If we want to win this seat and actually help the people in this district, we need to show up with something real. That's what I'm doing.
Democracy
Q: My rent has gone up 40% in three years. How is that even legal?
A: Because when there aren't enough homes to go around, landlords know you don't have anywhere else to go. Rents aren't skyrocketing because landlords suddenly got greedy. They're skyrocketing because we have a massive housing shortage and the people with the least leverage pay the most.
The only real solution is to build more housing, and to build the right kind of housing in the right places. That's why I wrote the Building Homes, Building Communities Act. It uses the tax code to make it more profitable for developers to build affordable and workforce housing that communities actually need. The more housing we build, the more competition landlords face, and the more power you have to walk away from a rent increase that doesn't make sense. Check out my full plan at davidkloiber.com/policy/affordable-housing.
Housing
Q: I'm a veteran and it takes months to get a mental health appointment at the VA. There are private therapists everywhere but they won't let me use them. Can you fix that?
A: Derek, first, thank you for your service. And you shouldn't have to fight the bureaucracy to get mental health care you've earned. The community care eligibility rules need to be fixed so that wait time alone triggers access to outside providers. A months-long wait for a mental health appointment isn't acceptable, and the system shouldn't block you from seeing a private therapist who's right down the road. I'd also fight to expand VA staffing so the underlying capacity problem gets fixed. Kentucky's veterans kept their promises to this country, and this country needs to keep its promises to them.
Veterans
Q: What is your position on the death penalty?
A: I oppose it. The justice system makes mistakes, and you can't undo an execution. We've seen too many cases where people on death row were later proven innocent. I don't think the government should be in the business of killing its own citizens. That's not a partisan position. That's a moral one.
Public Safety
Q: We've been promised broadband out here for years and it never comes. The companies take the money and skip us. How do you fix that?
A: You're not imagining it. Companies have taken public money meant for rural broadband, built out the profitable areas, and left communities like yours waiting. It's happened over and over, and every few years someone shows up with a new promise and a new pot of money and the same thing happens again.
The problem isn't funding. Billions of federal dollars have gone toward broadband deployment. The problem is accountability. When a company takes public money to build in your community, there need to be enforceable deadlines and real clawback provisions that take the money back when they don't deliver. And we need to stop pretending the only option is handing contracts to the same large providers who have already failed you. Municipal broadband, rural co-ops, and local partnerships have proven they can get it done in places the big companies won't touch. The federal government should be making it easier for those models to compete.
In 2026, broadband is how your kids do homework, how small businesses reach customers, and how families stay connected. We deserve the service we have already paid for.
Infrastructure
Q: My insulin costs almost $400 a month even with insurance. The rebates never seem to make it to us. What are you going to do about drug prices?
A: Marcus, the drug pricing system in this country is rigged. There's a whole layer of middlemen called pharmacy benefit managers sitting between the manufacturer and your pharmacy counter, and they're pocketing the savings that should be reaching you. My TRIP Act goes after that directly. For drugs developed with taxpayer-funded research, we cap prices and require insurers to pass at least 80% of the savings through to you. Nobody should be paying $400 a month for insulin that costs a few dollars to make, especially when public money helped develop it. The full plan's at davidkloiber.com/policy/healthcare.
Healthcare
Q: Where do you stand on the Affordable Care Act?
A: I want to keep it and build on it. The ACA isn't perfect, but it's the reason a lot of people in this district have coverage at all, and I'm not interested in tearing that away. What I want to do is use my TRIP Act to bring down the underlying costs that make premiums so high in the first place, and then use those savings to build toward a real public option. You should be able to buy into a Medicare-style plan if your employer doesn't offer anything decent. That's step two. Step three is expanding toward universal coverage. But I'm not going to stand here and promise universal healthcare without showing you how we pay for it and get there. That's the difference between a talking point and a plan.
Healthcare
Q: What are you going to do about housing costs? My kids can barely afford rent in Lexington.
A: Housing affordability is one of the biggest challenges facing families in our district. My plan focuses on three things: incentivizing the construction of starter homes and workforce housing, cracking down on corporate investors who buy up single-family homes to rent at inflated prices, and expanding down-payment assistance programs for first-time buyers. Kentucky families shouldn't have to move out of state just to own a home. The full plan is at davidkloiber.com/policy/housing.
Housing
Q: Why not just raise the minimum wage instead of this incentive approach you keep talking about?
A: There are two main reasons for addressing a living wage this way. First, the fight to increase minimum wage and index it to inflation has not made any progress in my lifetime, and we all know that's it's insanity to keep doing the same thing and expecting different results. Secondly, because I've run a business and I know what happens when costs go up by mandate with no offset. Small businesses eat it, cut hours, or close. I'm not against a higher minimum wage in principle, but I think there's a smarter path. My Rewarding Work and Wages Act gives businesses tax credits for paying living wages. The best deal goes to small businesses, up to $6,750 per employee per year with a three-year phase-in. So instead of punishing a restaurant owner for not paying enough, we're making it more profitable for them to pay more. The result is the same: workers get paid better. But the business stays open. And the living wage is calculated locally, because what works in Lexington doesn't work in Owingsville and neither of them are New York.
Economy
Q: Do you support term limits for Congress?
A: Yes. Career politicians who spend decades in Washington lose touch with the people they represent. Twelve years is a reasonable cap for any single office. That's enough time to learn the job, build relationships, and get things done, but not so long that holding power becomes the point.
But I'll be honest with you. Term limits alone won't fix what's broken. We also need to get dark money out of politics, end gerrymandering, adopt ranked choice voting, and make it easier for working people to run for office in the first place. Right now the system is designed to protect incumbents and reward people who are good at raising money, not people who are good at solving problems. Term limits are part of the answer, but only if we fix the system around them too.
Democracy
Q: Do you support term limits for Congress?
A: William, I understand the frustration behind the term limits question. People are tired of career politicians who seem more interested in keeping their seat than doing their job. I think the better solution is making elections more competitive through independent redistricting, campaign finance reform, and ending the gerrymandering that lets politicians pick their voters instead of the other way around. Term limits sound good but they just hand more power to lobbyists and staffers who stick around while elected officials rotate out. I'd rather fix the system that keeps bad incumbents in power.
Democracy
Q: I run a small shop and I can't find skilled workers. The local technical college doesn't have the funding to train enough people. What would you do?
A: I hear this everywhere I go in this district. This isn't an abstract issue for me. I sit on the board of the KCTCS Foundation and I've seen firsthand how these programs can take someone from enrollment to a skilled job in months, not years, when they're funded properly. At the federal level, I want to expand funding for registered apprenticeships and career and technical education, and I want small business owners like you at the table when training programs are designed so graduates can walk onto your floor and contribute on day one. We've spent decades treating a four-year degree like the only path and underfunding everything else. Your shop and the people who want to work there are paying the price for that.
Jobs
Q: Are tariffs helping or hurting us? I keep hearing different things.
A: Tariffs are a tool, and like any tool they can be used well or badly. A targeted tariff to protect a specific American industry while it gets on its feet? That can work. Broad tariffs that start a trade war and tank Kentucky's bourbon exports and soybean markets? That hurts us. This district has Toyota in Georgetown and farmers across every county. Both depend on trade relationships. I don't think tariffs should be an all-or-nothing thing. I think they should be strategic, and I think Kentucky's exports should never be used as bargaining chips in some unrelated trade dispute.
Economy
Q: Andy Barr held exactly one public town hall in eight years that was not a ticketed event or a telephone call. If you win this seat, will you commit to regular in-person town halls across the district – not just Lexington, but Irvine, Richmond, Winchester, and Georgetown?
A: Yes. One open town hall every month in a different county across the district. No tickets, no telephone screens, no pre-selected questions. You show up, I show up, and you ask me whatever you want.
This district has 16 counties and your representative should know every one of them. If I'm going to ask for your vote, I should be willing to stand in front of you and answer for it. That's not a radical idea. That's the job.
Democracy
Q: You use a lot of conservative framing for what sound like progressive ideas. Are you actually progressive or is that just marketing?
A: I'm progressive on policy and practical on persuasion. I believe in universal healthcare, strong unions, reproductive freedom, immigration reform, and criminal justice reform. Those are my positions and I don't run from them. But I also know that if you frame those ideas using the same language that cable news has been training people to reject for 20 years, you lose before you start. I'm not hiding what I believe. I'm explaining it in a way that respects the intelligence of people who might not agree with me yet. There's a difference between marketing and meeting people where they are.
Democracy
Q: My family has been in the horse business for three generations. Nobody in politics ever talks about the equine industry. What would you do to support it?
A: Catherine, the equine industry is a $6 billion economic engine for Kentucky and it's a huge part of what makes this district what it is. Woodford County knows that better than anyone. I'd push to protect the industry on trade, because retaliatory tariffs on agricultural exports put the entire sector at risk. I'd also fight for continued investment in UK's equine research programs and make sure federal agricultural policy recognizes the equine industry as the major economic force it is, not an afterthought. And my housing plan matters here too, because if the people who work at the farms and training centers can't afford to live in the county, that's a workforce problem that affects the whole industry.
Economy
Q: Everyone talks about drug prices but my actual problem is my insurance premium. It went up again this year and my deductible is $6,000. What's your plan for that?
A: Amy, the premiums and the drug prices are connected. Insurance companies set premiums based partly on what they're paying for medications, and right now there's a whole layer of middlemen called pharmacy benefit managers inflating those costs. My TRIP Act goes after that directly. By capping drug prices for taxpayer-funded medications and requiring insurers to pass at least 80% of those savings to consumers through lower premiums, we're looking at a 15-20% reduction in what families pay. That's roughly $1,200 a year back in your pocket. I won't pretend that fixes a $6,000 deductible overnight, but it's a real start, and it's a lot more specific than what you're hearing from anyone else in this race.
Healthcare
Q: Do you think the Department of Education should exist?
A: Yes. I know that's become a political question but it shouldn't be. The Department of Education makes sure federal dollars reach the schools that need them, enforces civil rights protections for students with disabilities, and manages the student loan system. You can absolutely argue it needs reform. I'd argue that myself. But abolishing it doesn't make education better. It just removes accountability and leaves states with less funding and less oversight. Public dollars for public schools. That's my position, and you need someone at the federal level making sure those dollars get where they're supposed to go.
Education
Q: I've been paying on my student loans for 8 years and I still owe more than I borrowed. Do you support loan forgiveness?
A: I believe the entire student loan industry needs to be scrutinized and reevaluated. My approach is to treat student loans under the same guidelines we use for predatory lending. Cap the interest rates, cap the overall profitability these loan companies can extract, and apply that retroactively to reduce existing debt burdens. Student loan servicers have almost no risk and enormous returns. That's not a free market. That's a racket. I want to fix the underlying structure so nobody ends up in your situation again, and I want to provide real relief for people already stuck in it.
Education
Q: I raise horses in Bourbon County. A lot of this industry runs on immigrant labor and everybody knows it. What's your immigration plan?
A: Bill, I appreciate the honesty because you're right, everybody knows it and nobody talks about it. Kentucky's equine and agricultural industries depend on immigrant workers. My plan starts with comprehensive reform that includes a real pathway to citizenship for people who are here, working, and contributing. I've also proposed what I call a naturalization statute of limitations. If the government fails to process someone's case within a defined period, that person gets legal status. When families spend years caught in a backlogged court system with no resolution, that's not border security. That's bureaucratic cruelty. We need a system that actually works for the industries and communities that depend on it.
Immigration