It’s official! Dale Romans running for U.S. Senate
Press release from the Dale Romans for U.S. Senate campaign
Louisville, KY — Independent Democrat and famed Kentucky horserace trainer Dale Romans today announced his campaign for U.S. Senate to stand up for working people across the state and fix the challenges facing our country like harmful tariffs and dangerous health care cuts – instead of waging exhausting partisan fights that get us nowhere and only divide the nation.
“I’ve been in Kentucky my entire life. It’s the greatest place in the world and the heart of America. We need a Senator who reflects our people: not polished insiders or party-line politicians running the same old partisan nonsense, but someone who has built a career the hard way and lived the struggles that Kentucky’s working families face every day,” said Dale Romans. “To solve the challenges before us, we need a fix, not a fight. As an independent Democrat, I won’t be beholden to the national party, and I won’t be a puppet of the president like a freshman Republican Senator would be. I love Kentucky, and I know our state needs a Senator in Washington focused on our people.”
Dale Romans is a proud son of Louisville, Kentucky, and a lifelong resident of the Bluegrass State. Born into the humble beginnings of a working-class family, Dale and his two brothers were raised by a single mother on her own. Lynn was a proud union woman who wouldn’t let Dale or any of her boys fall through the cracks. Dale was also inspired by his grandfather, himself a union man who loved FDR, and grew up learning the values that define Kentucky – hard work, loyalty, and independence – values that voters desperately want in Washington.
Dale was immersed in the world of Thoroughbred racing from a young age, and through grit and determination became one of the most accomplished and respected Thoroughbred trainers in America. With over 2,250 career wins, including victories in the Preakness Stakes and the Travers Stakes, he trained champions like Shackleford, Keen Ice, and Kitten’s Joy — horses that not only brought glory to Kentucky but also embodied the fighting spirit of the people who call this state home. Dale has also trained 12 Kentucky Derby horses. His record of success and achievement led to his appointment by Gov. Andy Beshear to the Kentucky Horse Racing & Gaming Corporation.
But Dale’s achievements go beyond trophies and headlines. As president of the Kentucky Horsemen’s Benevolent & Protective Association (HBPA), he has been a vocal advocate for Kentucky workers, championing fair treatment, protecting jobs, and defending the economic lifeblood of local communities tied to small business, agriculture and racing. As a small business owner himself running a stable with 50 employees, Dale knows what it takes to grow a company, and he’s worked hard to protect workers and support the people who keep this essential industry running.
Dale came from nothing, built a storied career from the ground up, and always remembers where his roots are. His vision for Kentucky in the U.S. Senate is built on the values and lessons of this remarkable lived experience.
As a small business owner and president of the Kentucky HBPA, Dale knows how to lead, negotiate, and protect Kentucky jobs — especially in sectors that national politicians often ignore. Dale will protect Kentucky workers and businesses from harmful overregulation and destructive tariffs, like those hurting the state’s vital bourbon industry. And he’ll relieve the pain and pressure of the affordability crisis on working people by lowering costs, boosting wages, and creating more and better jobs.
Dale also knows we must do much more to make health care affordable and accessible, especially for working and low-income people. This means reversing the painful health care cuts and hospital closures forced on Kentucky by the OBBBA. Dale wants to strengthen Medicaid, Medicare and the Affordable Care Act so more people can get healthcare without destroying their household budgets. And Dale won’t cave to Big Pharma but instead will finally, after all these years of politicians talking about it in Washington, pass legislation to lower prescription drug costs.
Education is a personal issue for Dale. In the second grade he was diagnosed severely dyslexic, and school was hard. But he graduated from Butler High School and never let the obstacles define his path. Dale knows education is vitally important and we must invest more in the children and young people who will be our future. And he also wants to innovate in how we educate our kids and explore new groundbreaking methodologies, recounting his own experience as a child that while he was categorized as L.D., “that doesn’t mean learning disabled, it means learning differently.”
Sober for two years since quitting alcohol after undergoing a comprehensive rehab program in Bowling Green, Dale understands the harsh destructiveness of addiction and will supercharge federal efforts to overcome the opioid crisis and defeat the scourge of fentanyl. Dale also wants to bring needed reform to the addiction recovery industry, including more oversight to ensure recovery programs are serving people the right way, more research to discover new breakthroughs and best practices, and more resources so people can get the help they need. Dale also believes we must expand drug and alcohol awareness and resistance programs for young people.
For decades, Washington did nothing as the immigration system atrophied. Now it’s woefully broken. We must secure the border, and those here illegally who commit crimes should be sent back. But Trump’s radical ICE raids are creating fear and resentment in communities, scooping up innocent, law-abiding residents and sometimes even citizens, and hurting businesses and the economy. The aggressive tactics of masked men grabbing people off the street without warrants or legal explanation are un-American, don’t keep us safe, and inflict real pain and disruption to the economy that raises costs, including for Kentucky’s horse racing industry. Washington needs to stop kicking the can down the road just because it’s hard, and Dale will work to pass real immigration reform in the U.S. Senate.
Dale has spent his entire life in Kentucky and raised his family here. His partner is Tammy Fox, a former jockey who accrued 236 wins over the course of her illustrious career, and in 1991 became the first woman ever to race in the Blue Grass Stakes. Dale and Tammy reside in Louisville and together have raised two children. They are also new grandparents, welcoming their first grandchild earlier this month.
Kentuckians are tired of out-of-touch elites and partisan gridlock, Dale offers something different: a real story, rooted in Kentucky soil, that working people across the state can see in themselves. He is committed to fixing the problems we face by putting aside the partisan nonsense and getting to work – something he does every day. With deep respect for Kentucky’s heritage and a fierce belief in its future, Dale Romans is ready to bring a new voice to the U.S. Senate — one that speaks not in soundbites, but from lived experience, honest conviction, and
the determination to get things done.
For more information, please visit DaleRomans.com.
