Ad saying Kentucky Democrat Dembo backs higher Social Security taxes is misleading, WKYT finds

A TV ad from Republican Ralph Alvarado's campaign in Kentucky's 6th Congressional District says Democrat Zach Dembo "backs higher taxes on social security benefits, picking the pockets of seniors who paid in their whole lives." WKYT, the Lexington TV station, published a fact check on Oct. 26 and rated the claim misleading ¹.

The ad is running across the central Kentucky district. It also ties Dembo to U.S. Reps. Nancy Pelosi and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez ¹. Alvarado's campaign website makes the same charge: "Zach Dembo supports higher taxes on Social Security recipients" ⁴.

The whole claim rests on one thing. Dembo opposes H.R. 1, the Republican tax-and-spending law that supporters call the One Big Beautiful Bill Act ¹. On Aug. 9, on the program Kentucky Newsmakers, Dembo said he opposes the law because he believes it will hurt people in central Kentucky ¹.

What Dembo actually said

Dembo told WKYT he does not oppose the part of the law that cut taxes for seniors ¹. He also said in the same statement, "The current law expires in under three years, and I support making those tax cuts permanent" ¹.

I support no taxes on Social Security, overtime, and tips.

He said the same thing at an Oct. 22 debate hosted by Fox56 in Lexington. He said he liked "no taxes on Social Security," along with the tax breaks for tips and overtime, but not the bill as a whole ³⁸.

If those were standalone measures, I would be in favor.

What he objected to, Dembo said, were the law's cuts to Medicaid and food aid. "I will never vote to kick folks off the food benefits they were receiving," he said ⁸.

The Republican's answer

Alvarado's campaign is standing by the ad. WKYT reported the campaign's argument that Dembo's support for the senior tax breaks "doesn't matter" because "lawmakers can't vote for only one provision in a bill like H.R. 1" ¹. At the Oct. 22 debate, Alvarado said Dembo "doesn't understand how government works" ⁸.

You can't pick out sections of a bill and see a vote.

The two met again Tuesday night at Estill County High School, in a debate WKYT streamed. Alvarado said he would fully fund Social Security to "keep our promises to our seniors" and would go after fraud and waste ². He also pointed to $50 billion for rural hospitals in H.R. 1 and said Dembo had opposed it ².

What the law really did for seniors' taxes

H.R. 1 did not end federal income taxes on Social Security. What it did was create an extra $6,000 deduction for people 65 and older, on top of the regular standard deduction, for tax years 2025 through 2028, according to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) ⁵. A married couple can claim up to $12,000 if both spouses qualify ⁵.

The deduction starts to shrink for single filers with modified adjusted gross income above $75,000, and for joint filers above $150,000 ⁵. It goes to anyone 65 or older, whether or not they collect Social Security. A certified financial planner told CBS News Miami that it is "much more age-based than it is Social Security-based" ⁶.

That leaves some Social Security recipients out entirely. PolitiFact reported that the deduction excludes beneficiaries 62 to 64, dependents, deceased workers' survivors and disabled workers who have not turned 65 ⁷. While the bill was being written in June 2025, the chief of staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation, Congress's nonpartisan tax scorekeeper, estimated the new deductions would cut the number of tax returns that owe tax on Social Security from 27 million to 24 million ⁷. PolitiFact rated President Donald Trump's claim that the bill meant no tax on Social Security as Mostly False ⁷.

That matters because the end date is written into H.R. 1 itself. The senior deduction is set to expire at the end of 2028 ⁵⁶. If Congress does not act, seniors who claim it now would lose it starting with the 2029 tax year. Dembo says he wants the break made permanent ¹. The ad does not say who wrote the expiration date into the law.

A district that has tightened

Dembo is a Navy veteran and former federal prosecutor. Alvarado is a doctor and former state lawmaker ³. The district voted for Trump by 15 points. Election forecasters have since moved it to a more competitive rating, though they still favor Alvarado, Kentucky Public Radio reported ³.

Publicly available polling has been one-sided: only surveys sponsored by Democrats or Dembo himself have been released. Of the Democratic polls in October, all five show Dembo up by 3 to 9 points ³. Polls paid for by a campaign or party should be read with caution.

At Tuesday's debate, Dembo said about 26% of the district relies on Medicaid, the joint federal-state health program that also pays for much nursing home care. He warned that a law taking effect in 2027 could remove about 200,000 Kentuckians from Medicaid ². Alvarado said he opposes Medicare for All and a public option, a government-run insurance plan, and proposed returning control of Medicaid to the states ².

Early in-person voting in Kentucky starts Thursday, Oct. 29, and runs through Saturday. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3 ³.

The Record

1. Jun 30, 2025PolitiFact rates Trump's claim that his bill ends taxes on Social Security Mostly False. The Joint Committee on Taxation estimated 24 million returns would still owe tax on benefits ⁷.
2. Aug 9, 2026On Kentucky Newsmakers, Zach Dembo says he opposes H.R. 1 because he believes it will hurt central Kentuckians ¹.
3. Oct 22, 2026At a Fox56 debate in Lexington, Dembo says he backs the senior, tip and overtime tax breaks but not the bill's Medicaid and food aid cuts ³⁸.
4. Oct 26, 2026WKYT rates misleading the Alvarado ad that says Dembo backs higher taxes on Social Security benefits ¹.
5. Oct 27, 2026At the Estill County debate, Alvarado pledges to fully fund Social Security and cut fraud and waste ².

Sources

1. WKYT, “WKYT Fact Check: Does Zach Dembo support higher taxes on Social Security benefits?” (2026-10-26). wkyt.com/2026/10/26/wkyt-factcheck-does-zach-dembo-support-h
2. WKYT, “Alvarado, Dembo square off in 6th District debate” (2026-10-27). wkyt.com/2026/10/28/alvarado-dembo-square-off-6th-district-d
3. Kentucky Public Radio / Louisville Public Media, “Dembo, Alvarado debate AI, tax cuts and healthcare in Kentucky race for US House” (2026-10-22). lpm.org/news/2026-10-22/dembo-alvarado-debate-ai-tax-cuts-an
4. Ralph Alvarado for Congress, “Media (The Truth About Zach Dembo)” (2026-10-28). alvaradoforcongress.com/media/
5. IRS, “Check your eligibility for the new enhanced deduction for seniors” (2026-09-21). irs.gov/node/156821
6. CBS News Miami, “New tax deduction in "big, beautiful bill" misunderstood by many, experts say” (2025-07-10). cbsnews.com/miami/news/new-tax-deduction-in-big-beautiful-bi
7. PolitiFact, “Trump's claim about no tax on Social Security in the reconciliation bill” (2025-06-30). politifact.com/factchecks/2025/jun/30/donald-trump/trump-tax
8. Lexington Herald-Leader (via Yahoo News), “Alvarado distances himself from Trump on Iran war, tariffs in KY House debate with Dembo” (2026-10-23). yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/alvarado-distances-himself-

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