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Kentucky House Democrats elect new leadership team ahead of 2023 legislative session

Left to Right: House Minority Whip Rachel Roberts, Minority Leader Derrick Graham, Minority Caucus Chair Cherlynn Stevenson.
Kentucky House Democratic Caucus
Left to Right: House Minority Whip Rachel Roberts, Minority Leader Derrick Graham, Minority Caucus Chair Cherlynn Stevenson.

Democrats in the Kentucky House of Representatives have elected new leaders ahead of the 2023 legislative session.

Representative Derrick Graham of Frankfort will serve as minority floor leader, replacing outgoing caucus leader Joni Jenkins of Louisville.

He’ll be the first Black legislative caucus leader in the commonwealth’s history.

Northern Kentucky Representative Rachel Roberts will be the minority whip after current Whip Angie Hatton lost her bid for re-election in an increasingly Republican-leaning eastern Kentucky district.

Graham’s former post of minority caucus chair will be filled by Lexington Representative Cherlynn Stevenson.

Twenty Democrats will make up the House Democratic Caucus in January, a decrease of five seats after Republican gains in the November elections.

The 2023 session of the General Assembly begins January 3.

Dalton York joined WKU Public Radio in December 2021 as a reporter and host of Morning Edition. He graduated summa cum laude with a B.S. in History from Murray State University, and was named MSU's Outstanding Senior Man for fall 2021. He previously served as a student reporter and All Things Considered host for WKMS, part of the Kentucky Public Radio network. He has won multiple Kentucky Associated Press Awards and Impact Broadcast Awards from the Kentucky Broadcasters Association. A native of Marshall County, Dalton is a proud product of his tight-knit community.