David Ryan Dotson (born November 22, 1972) is an American politician. He serves as a Republican member of 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 ...

from Kentucky's 73rd House district. His district includes

Clark County Clark County may refer to: *Clark County, Arkansas *Clark County, Idaho *Clark County, Illinois *Clark County, Indiana *Clark County, Kansas *Clark County, Kentucky *Clark County, Missouri *Clark County, Nevada, containing Las Vegas *Clark County, ...

and part of Fayette County.

Background

Dotson was born on November 22, 1972, in

Pikeville, Kentucky Pikeville () is a List of cities in Kentucky, home rule-class city in and the county seat of Pike County, Kentucky, United States. Its population was 7,754 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. Census. Pikeville serves as a regional eco ...

. He graduated from Phelps High School before attending

community college A community college is a type of undergraduate higher education institution, generally leading to an associate degree, certificate, or diploma. The term can have different meanings in different countries: many community colleges have an open enr ...

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

. Dotson then enlisted in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

, where he served as a radiologist. After leaving the army, he worked for a short time at the University of Kentucky's Albert B. Chandler Hospital before moving to

Winchester, Kentucky Winchester is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of Clark County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 19,134 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Lexington-Fayette, KY Metropolitan Statistical Area. Winchester is located r ...

. While briefly involved in real estate, Dotson currently owns a daycare as well as numerous restaurants located in Winchester, Mount Sterling, Lexington, and

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

. Dotson identifies as a

Pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a movement within the broader Evangelical wing of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes direct personal experience of God in Christianity, God through Baptism with the Holy Spirit#Cl ...

, and serves as senior pastor of Lighthouse World Outreach Center.

Vanderpump Rules

In 2019, Dotson was scheduled to appear on an episode of

Vanderpump Rules ''Vanderpump Rules'' is an American reality television series that has been broadcast on Bravo since January 7, 2013. Developed as the first spin-off from ''The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills'', it has aired 11 seasons, and focuses on Lisa Vand ...

, a spin-off of the reality TV series

The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills ''The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills'' (abbreviated as ''RHOBH'') is an American reality television series which has been broadcast on Bravo since October 14, 2010. Developed as the sixth installment of '' The Real Housewives'' franchise, i ...

, to officiate the wedding of stars Jax Taylor and Brittany Cartwright. Dotson was later removed from the position after tweets resurfaced that were characterized as

anti-LGBT The following outline offers an overview and guide to topics about LGBTQ people. ''LGBTQ'' is an initialism that stands for "lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer". It may refer to anyone who is non-heterosexual, non-heteroroman ...

and

transphobic Transphobia consists of negative attitudes, feelings, or actions towards transgender or transsexual people, or transness in general. Transphobia can include fear, aversion, hatred, violence or anger towards people who do not conform to social ...

. While still invited as a guest, Dotson chose not to attend.

Political career

Party switch

According to Dotson, he was raised in an environment surrounded by ancestral Democrats, where belonging to the party of

Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before Presidency of Andrew Jackson, his presidency, he rose to fame as a general in the U.S. Army and served in both houses ...

and

Harry S. Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. As the 34th vice president in 1945, he assumed the presidency upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt that year. Subsequen ...

was "natural." However, Dotson switched his registration to the Republican party in 2012, citing

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

in that the party had left him and "drifted too far left."

Legislative activities

On June 11, 2021, Dotson authored legislation that would ban transgender women from playing on women's sports teams in Kentucky.

2026 House of Representatives Campaign

On April 22, 2025, Dotson declared his candidacy for Kentucky's 6th congressional district in the 2026 House of Representatives election after incumbent

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 ...

filed to run for

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

Elections

* 2010 Dotson was defeated in the 2010 Democratic primary for Kentucky's 28th Senate district, garnering 6,705 votes (31.5%) against incumbent Senator and Minority Leader RJ Palmer. * 2014 Dotson was defeated in the 2014 Kentucky general election for

Judge Executive, garnering 5,343 votes (43.7%) against Democratic incumbent Henry Branham. * 2020 Dotson won the 2020 Republican primary for Kentucky's 73rd House district with 2,356 votes (51.4%), unseating incumbent Les Yates. Dotson won the

2020 Kentucky House of Representatives election Elections to the Kentucky House of Representatives were held on November 3, 2020. Predictions Closest races Seats where the margin of victory was under 10%: # # gain # # gain # # # gain # # gain # # gain # # Results ...

with 11,923 (56.9%) votes against Democratic candidate Kenneth Blair and

write-in candidate A write-in candidate is a candidate whose name does not appear on the ballot but seeks election by asking voters to cast a vote for the candidate by physically writing in the person's name on the ballot. Depending on electoral law it may be poss ...

Jada Brady. * 2022 Dotson was unopposed in the 2022 Republican primary and won the

2022 Kentucky House of Representatives election The 2022 Kentucky House of Representatives election was held on November 8, 2022. The Republican and Democratic primary elections were held on May 17. All 100 seats of the house were up for election. Republicans increased their majority in the ...

with 8,704 votes (56.6%) against Democratic candidate Thomas Adams. * 2024 Dotson was unopposed in the 2024 Republican primary and won the

2024 Kentucky House of Representatives election The 2024 Kentucky House of Representatives election was held on November 5, 2024. The Republican and Democratic primary elections were held on May 21. Following the 2022 Kentucky House of Representatives election, 2022 election, Republicans an ...

with 12,847 votes against Democratic candidate Rory Houlihan.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dotson, Ryan 1972 births 21st-century members of the Kentucky General Assembly Living people Republican Party members of the Kentucky House of Representatives