Cherlynn Watley Stevenson (born July 17, 1976) is an American politician and businesswoman who served as a member in the

Kentucky House of Representatives The Kentucky House of Representatives is the lower house of the Kentucky General Assembly. It is composed of 100 Representatives elected from single-member districts throughout the Commonwealth. Not more than two counties can be joined to form a ...

, representing the 88th district from 2019 to 2025. She also served as Minority Caucus Chair. Her district comprised parts of Fayette and

Scott Scott may refer to: Places Canada * Scott, Quebec, municipality in the Nouvelle-Beauce regional municipality in Quebec * Scott, Saskatchewan, a town in the Rural Municipality of Tramping Lake No. 380 * Rural Municipality of Scott No. 98, Sas ...

counties. She was defeated for reelection in 2024 by Republican candidate Vanessa Grossl. A native of

Eastern Kentucky Eastern or Easterns may refer to: Transportation Airlines *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai * Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 192 ...

, on May 13, 2025, Stevenson declared her candidacy for Kentucky's 6th congressional district in the

2026 United States House of Representatives elections The 2026 United States House of Representatives elections are scheduled to be held on Tuesday, November 3, 2026, as part of the 2026 midterm elections during President Donald Trump's second, non-consecutive term. Voters will elect representati ...

, which is being vacated by incumbent

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

Andy Barr Garland Hale "Andy" Barr IV (born July 24, 1973) is an American attorney and politician serving as the U.S. representative for Kentucky's 6th congressional district since 2013. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served in the adm ...

, who is running for senator.

Biography

Cherlynn Stevenson was born and reared in Hindman, Kentucky, the daughter of a schoolteacher and a coal miner. She graduated from

Morehead State University Morehead State University (MSU) is a public university in Morehead, Kentucky, United States. The university began as Morehead Normal School, which opened its doors in 1887. The Craft Academy for Excellence in Science and Mathematics, a two-yea ...

with a

bachelor of science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

degree in behavioral sciences. Before entering politics, Stevenson was a small business owner, and previously worked in healthcare and manufacturing. She ran for the Kentucky House of Representatives in

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

, narrowly defeating Republican Bill Farmer. She was re-elected in

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

and

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

, but was narrowly defeated for a fourth term by Republican Vanessa Grossl in

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

by a margin of 125 votes. During her time as a member of the Kentucky House of Representatives, she served as Democratic Caucus Chair. On May 13, 2025, she announced her candidacy for Kentucky's 6th congressional district in the 2026 U.S. House of Representatives elections. The seat is being vacated by Republican incumbent

, who is running for U.S. Senate. The district is seen as a district house Democrats hope to flip in the 2026 elections. The district was won by

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

by 15 points in the

2024 United States presidential election United States presidential election, Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 5, 2024. The Republican Party (United States), Republican Party's Ticket (election), ticket—Donald Trump, who was the 45th president of ...

, but Democratic

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

Andy Beshear Andrew Graham Beshear ( ; born November 29, 1977) is an American attorney and politician serving as the 63rd governor of Kentucky since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 50th attorney gen ...

won the district in

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

. The last Democrat to win in the district was

Ben Chandler Albert Benjamin Chandler III (born September 12, 1959) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the United States House of Representatives, United States representative for from 2004 to 2013. A United States Democratic Party, Democrat, ...

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stevenson, Cherlynn 1976 births 21st-century American women politicians 21st-century members of the Kentucky General Assembly Democratic Party members of the Kentucky House of Representatives Living people Women state legislators in Kentucky