Eastern Kentucky lawyer Ned Pillersdorf says he's launching a campaign to run for House of Representatives as a Democrat.
Pillersdorf represented thousands of eastern Kentuckians who were scammed out of Social Security benefits by former attorney Eric C. Conn in a nationally publicized trial.
He says he’s running out of concern for cuts to Medicaid and food stamps included in the “Big Beautiful Bill.”
“I think if you stop people on the streets of Hazard or Hindman and say, ‘Hey, do you want to cut Medicaid? Do you want to cut food stamps? Do you want to get rid of the program that helps low income people pay their utility bills?’ They'll say no, but that's exactly what's happening,” he said.
He’d be running against longtime Republican Representative Hal Rogers, whose district includes much of southeast Kentucky, if he wins his primary.
Pillersdorf says he’s confident his party will flip the House during the 2026 midterms.
“I think it’s pretty clear that next year, the Democrats, we're going to take over the House. So at that point, Hal Rogers will be 89 years old, he'll be a member of the minority. What will he then be able to do for the district? Not much,” he said.
Pillersdorf would be a candidate to face Rogers in the 2026 general election.
