Ralph Alvarado

Ralph Alvarado is the Republican nominee for Kentucky's 6th Congressional District, a physician and former Kentucky state senator who served from 2015 to 2023. He was the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor in 2019 and left the Senate to become Tennessee's health commissioner. He campaigns primarily on healthcare, saying he wants to work across party lines to lower costs.[1][2]

Alvarado was born in San Jose, California. He earned a bachelor of science degree and a medical degree from Loma Linda University and completed his medical residency at the University of Kentucky.[1] He worked as a physician with Kentucky One Medical Group and, according to his campaign website, has cared for patients across Central Kentucky for nearly three decades.[1][2][3] He has served on the board of trustees of the Kentucky Medical Association, as a fellow and government council member of the American College of Physicians, and as a member of the Clark County Chamber of Commerce.[1]

Alvarado was elected to the Kentucky State Senate, District 28, in 2014 and took office on January 1, 2015; his campaign website describes him as the first Hispanic member of the Kentucky General Assembly. He chaired the Health and Welfare Committee in the 2019-2020 and 2021-2022 sessions after serving as its vice chair earlier.[1][2] He was a delegate to the 2016 Republican National Convention and a member of the RNC Rules Committee.[1] In 2019 he ran for lieutenant governor on a joint ticket with Gov. Matt Bevin; the ticket lost the general election, in which Democrat Jacqueline Coleman won the lieutenant governor race.[1][3]

Alvarado resigned from the state Senate on January 6, 2023, to become commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Health. He launched his congressional campaign in July 2025.[1][3] According to his campaign website, he and his wife, Dawn, have been married for 32 years and raised two children in Clark County.[2]

Researched from the cited sources on 2026-10-21.