Zach Dembo

Dembo was raised in Lexington and, according to his campaign website, is a ninth-generation Kentuckian whose family roots in Shelby and Henry counties trace back to the mid-1700s.[2] He attended Stanford University and then taught eighth-grade English in the Mississippi Delta through Teach For America.[2] He earned a law degree from the University of Michigan Law School, where he commissioned as an officer in the U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General's (JAG) Corps, and served over four years on active duty.[2]

In 2017 Dembo became a federal prosecutor in the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division, prosecuting civil and constitutional rights cases. In 2020 Gov. Andy Beshear appointed him policy advisor, and he later served as legislative director.[2] He then returned to federal prosecution as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Lexington; according to his campaign website, he resigned after seeing what he describes as corruption and politicization of the Department of Justice.[2]

Dembo won the May 19, 2026 Democratic primary for the seat with 39.6% of the vote in a multi-candidate field.[8] During the campaign, he said he was running on a message of public service over politics.[2] According to his campaign website, he lives in Lexington with his wife, Lindsey.[2] He won the November 3, 2026 general election with 52.7% of the vote to Ralph Alvarado's 43.3%, Jay Bowman's 2.5% and Pete Lynch's 1.5%, according to unofficial results reported by NBC News.[1]