By Kelly McKinney/Richmond In-Depth
Last Tuesday evening, dozens of people gathered in Berea for pizza, camaraderie, and a conversation with Cherlynn Stevenson, candidate for the 6th Congressional District of Kentucky.
The meet and greet, hosted by the organization We Show Up at Rebel Rebel Studio & Lounge, was also a call to action.
“The stakes keep getting higher and higher and higher,” Stevenson said. “Next November, you guys, it is the most important election of our lifetime. None of us can afford to sit it out.”
The Democratic candidate added that hopelessness can’t get in the way.
“Our children and our grandchildren cannot afford for us to fall into despair.,” she said. “They need us to take that despair and that frustration and that anger and turn it into action.”
She pointed to cuts to Medicaid and VA hospitals as threats that demand Democrats fight.
“We are seeing threats to Medicaid, now this big ugly bill has passed,” she said. “The numbers are horrifying. Almost 200,000 people in the 6th District are going to lose their health care.”
Stevenson said lawmakers are turning their backs on veterans by failing to keep the promise that the U.S. government would provide health care for them.
“These are heroes we’re talking about,” she said. “They’re being sold out so that billionaires can line their pockets.”
Cuts to services reverberate throughout communities, Stevenson said.
“We’re talking about taking food and health care from vulnerable people, from children,” she said. “We’re also talking about a hit to our communities that a lot of people can’t see coming.”
She said cuts are going to hit Central Kentucky hard.
“This is going to be absolutely devastating for Kentucky, especially Central Kentucky,” she said. “Central Kentucky can’t take it because we already have tariffs that are upending our economy.”
She pointed to the tariffs on Bourbon and autos as examples.
She stressed the importance of getting facts to people about the impacts of the tariffs and program cuts in the face of Republicans’ “masterful messaging.”
“That old saying ‘we don’t talk about religion or politics”—that’s out the door,” she said. “It is imperative that we are spreading truth.”
The 2026 race is not about party, she said.
“We are beyond red versus blue,” she said. “We are at a time when it’s billionaires versus you.”
Stevenson launched her campaign for the 6th District seat in May.
She is a native of Knott County in Eastern Kentucky and daughter of a public-school teacher and Army veteran and coal miner.
She earned a degree in Behavioral Sciences from Morehead State University and has worked in healthcare, manufacturing, and running her own small business. She has worked with organizations including the Rotary Club of Lexington, Habitat for Humanity, CASA, Surgery on Sunday, the Toy Chest, Black Yarn, and the American Cancer Society.
She served three terms in the Kentucky legislature, representing the 88th District, and has been endorsed by Kentucky Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman.
She lives in Lexington with her husband of 24 years, Chris, and their three cats: Peanut, Butter, and Jelly.
