This week, your Sustainability Now! host, Justin Mog, sits down with Robert LeVertis Bell, a JCPS teacher who has recently announced his candidacy for the open Kentucky House District 43 race. Bell’s experience includes social justice activism, teaching in JCPS, and leadership in the Shelby Park Neighborhood Association and the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). In late July, Robert LeVertis Bell, a community organizer and veteran of Louisville’s progressive movement, announced his campaign to represent Kentucky House District 43 in the 2026 Democratic primary. Bell, a 45-year-old West Louisville native, is a seventh grade English teacher. In 2022, Bell ran for the same seat and lost narrowly to incumbent Pam Stevenson, despite the death of his mother at the end of the campaign and the full weight of the Democratic establishment backing his opponent. This time, the seat is open, as Stevenson is vacating it to run for US Senate.

Bell is entering the race at a moment of rising momentum for democratic socialist candidates across the country. His campaign draws inspiration from New York Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani’s recent upset victory in the New York City mayoral primary, where Mamdani, backed by DSA and a coalition of labor and progressive organizations, defeated a prominent establishment figure on a platform of housing justice and public investment.

Bell’s political roots run deep—he is the grandson of Louisville civil rights legend Mattie Jones. He currently teaches English at Frederick Law Olmsted Academy North, an all-boys public school in South Louisville where Bell had also served as a JCTA union representative.

Bell’s platform centers around four key planks: strong schools, safe and affordable housing, and real political power for working people. His proposals include:
• Raising the minimum wage and cracking down on wage theft
• Funding high-paying jobs in public schools for professional educators to teach children with best practices rather than relying on screens and AI.
• Expanding union rights and collective bargaining across the public and private sectors
• Fully funding public schools and universal Pre-K
• Expanding renter protections, including local control over tenant laws and a pathway to rent control
• Repealing Kentucky’s anti-trans legislation (SB 150) and restoring abortion rights
• A Kentucky Green New Deal that resists data center pollution, reins in LG&E, and pushes for public ownership of utilities
• Securing local revenue authority for Louisville and reversing state interference

The primary election is coming up on May 19, 2026 and all 100 seats in the Kentucky House will be on the ballot next year.

More information on Bell and his platform can be found at https://www.bell4ky.com
Additional links:
Democratic Socialists of America: https://www.dsausa.org
Louisville DSA: https://www.dsalouisville.org

Forward Radio does not endorse any particular candidates or pieces of legislation, but we do endorse an informed electorate. We offer equal air time to all candidates for any given seat.

As always, our feature is followed by your community action calendar for the week, so get your calendars out and get ready to take action for sustainability NOW!

Sustainability Now! is hosted by Dr. Justin Mog and airs on Forward Radio, 106.5fm, WFMP-LP Louisville, every Monday at 6pm and repeats Tuesdays at 12am and 10am. Find us at https://forwardradio.org

The music in this podcast is courtesy of the local band Appalatin and is used by permission. Explore their delightful music at https://appalatin.com

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