By Ülvi Gitaliyev and Ameer Abedy

Andy Barr (R), is running for his 7th term in Kentucky’s Sixth Congressional District. Representative Barr is known for his staunch conservatism, support of former president Donald J. Trump and conservative voting patterns such as voting in favor of military aid for Israel at every opportunity.

The Sixth District used to be very competitive. That competitiveness has, however, fizzled into firm republican control. While Barr is unopposed in the Republican Primary, there will be at least five Democratic candidates on the primary ballot. Todd Kelly is one of those candidates. As the founder of Kelly Nursery LLC, he sells nursery plants and participates in Quaker meetings. Kelly has written many Op-eds on the topics ranging from Palestine to Abortion, which can be found here. The Berea Torch had a chance to interview Todd Kelly and why he is running this year.

When asked why he decided to run in the first place, Kelly spoke about Project 2025, a policy proposal by right-wing think tanks in the event of a Trump election victory in 2024. The proposal includes further limiting abortion rights nationwide, expanding the power of the executive and implementing the insurrection act against protests in the U.S. According to Kelly, Congress will be one of the few bulwarks stopping the Project 2025 agenda from being fully achieved, and so, that is why he is running for office.

“Trump would likely institute many authoritarian policies and use the military to maintain control. He will likely steer policies towards Christianity… Project 2025 will establish Trump as a dictator.”

Todd Kelly

Abortion has become a contentious issues in Kentucky since the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Kelly opened up about how his wife became pregnant and the fetus had multiple, severe genetic issues that would have made it impossible to survive outside the womb. Therefore, he and his wife decided to have an abortion, an option that everyone in Kentucky should have, according to him.

When it comes to Palestine, Kelly said that both Israel and Palestine have a right to defend themselves. He believes that criticism of Israel should not be equated with anti-Semitism. Andy Barr though, has accused many critics of Israel, including Todd Kelly of anti-Semitism, because of their criticism of Israel. Kelly, furthermore, criticized the censure of congresswoman Rashida Tlaib for her stance on Israel.

What separates Kelly from one of his opponents in the primaries, Shauna Rudd, is that Kelly’s platform is much more domestically focused. He has strong opinions about the recent round of violence in Gaza, but does not consider it to be the core of his platform.

Kelly also spoke on his economic beliefs in regard to banking. Specifically, he praised Joe Biden’s administration limiting overdraft fees. He also said “Banks are wild animals, and they should be treated as such, the free market cannot exist without the government” when asked about the need for regulating banks. Todd also supports efforts to unionize the U.S. economy, in the both private and public sector, by saying “Unionization created the middle class for god’s sake!”

The Democratic & Republican Primaries will be held on May 21st, with the general election for November 5th, 2024, along with the U.S. Presidential Elections and other local elections.