Ryan Dotson


David Ryan Dotson is an American politician. He served as a Republican member of the Kentucky House of Representatives from Kentucky's 73rd House district. He is currently a candidate for Kentucky's 6th Congressional District, running to replace Andy Barr.

Background

Dotson was born on November 22, 1972, in Pikeville, Kentucky. He graduated from Phelps High School before attending community college in West Virginia. Dotson then enlisted in the United States Army, 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.
While briefly involved in real estate, Dotson currently owns a daycare as well as numerous restaurants located in Winchester, Mount Sterling, Lexington, and Somerset.
Dotson is a Pentecostal Minister, 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, a spin-off of the reality TV series The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, 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 and transphobic. 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 and Harry S. Truman was "natural." However, Dotson switched his registration to the Republican party in 2012, citing Ronald Reagan 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. The bill passed, despite opposition from the ACLU of Kentucky, and The Human Rights Campaign.

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 filed to run for U.S. Senate.

Elections