The Story After the Headlines
by Brenda Monarrez
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I’ve never been charged, never arrested, and never convicted of any crime based on Denise Gray's false allegations. A grand jury returned NO INDICTMENT.
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Two years ago, on August 8, 2024, my life changed forever.
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While serving as Councilwoman for Lexington's 4th District and seeking re-election, I was served with a Temporary Order of Protection based on false allegations made by fellow Councilwoman Denise Gray.
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While serving as Councilwoman for Lexington's 4th District and seeking re-election, I was served with a Temporary Order of Protection based on false allegations made by fellow Councilwoman Denise Gray. My campaign, my reputation, and my personal life were suddenly defined by accusations that I have consistently maintained were not true.
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Following the October 16, 2024 family court hearing, less than three weeks before Election Day, I publicly maintained my innocence and stated that Denise Gray had lied on the stand. The family court judge got the ruling wrong. After I made that statement, the family court judge entered an order prohibiting me from making social media posts regarding Denise Gray while the Order of Protection remained in effect, significantly limiting my ability to respond publicly. Those restrictions ended when my attorney successfully terminated the order in December 2025. I am now free to publicly discuss what happened.
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I will also address my opponent, Emma Curtis, who made false and misleading statements about me during the 2024 campaign and continues to make them today. Those statements raise serious questions about her credibility and integrity. The public heard the false allegations repeatedly, from the media, from Denise, and from Emma and her campaign supporters. The public did not hear many of the facts that emerged during and after the legal proceedings.That is why I am speaking out today..
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What the Public Didn’t Hear
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The headlines told one story. What they never told the public was much of what actually happened in the courtroom on October 16, 2024. Before the October 16 hearing, law enforcement had obtained my phone, which contained more than three and a half years of text messages, emails, photos, and other communications documenting what I believed was a genuine friendship. They included dinners, lunches, musicals, community events, and day trips in and out of Kentucky where Denise traveled alone with me. She also met my boyfriend, whom I had been dating for 18 months when I was served with the EPO, and continued to socialize with me after the October 2021 incident she later alleged until shortly before the August 2024 allegations.
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At the hearing, there were also significant inconsistencies in Denise’s accounts. Evidence, including text messages, restaurant receipts and testimony from a server, contradicted Denise's testimony and raised significant questions about the allegations and the timeline Denise described. No witness personally witnessed either of the alleged incidents.
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The family court judge ultimately ruled in Denise's favor and concluded that Denise, a 46-year-old woman, had been groomed. The family court judge got it wrong, and I have consistently maintained that neither of the alleged incidents ever happened. After the hearing, the judge also prohibited me from making social media posts regarding Denise Gray while the Order of Protection remained in effect, significantly limiting my ability to respond publicly. Denise never testified under oath that she believed she had been groomed, nor was any expert testimony or other evidence presented to support that finding. In fact, Denise testified that she had been ‘using’ me because I would sometimes pay when we went out. She also described me as ‘a willing subject.’ These important facts from the hearing were never reported, while the allegations received extensive media coverage.
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What Happened After the Headlines
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By Election Day, the headlines had captured attention, shaped public perception, and moved on. I lost my bid for re-election by just over 300 votes. For many people, that was the end of the story. For me, it was only the beginning.
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In January 2025, a Fayette County grand jury considered the allegations. After hearing the evidence presented by the Commonwealth, the common sense, unbiased grand jury did not return an indictment.
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I was never arrested or charged with a crime based on Denise Gray’s false allegations.
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Months later, my attorney filed a motion to terminate the Order of Protection. During those proceedings, additional evidence was introduced that further challenged Denise Gray's testimony. The hearing was delayed several times for reasons outside my control, including the resignation of Denise Gray's attorney. In December 2025, the Order of Protection was terminated.
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Neither development was reported. Neither received the public attention those false allegations received. These are developments that I believe are equally important to understanding the full story. As a result, many people were left with the impression created during the weeks leading up to the 2024 election, without ever learning what happened afterward. That imbalance is the reason I am speaking out today.
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When Politics Entered the Story
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Tom Eblen wrote in a November 2, 2018, opinion column:
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“Every political candidate wants to win. But a candidate's character is often revealed in what they are willing to do to win.”
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Those words have stayed with me over the years because they speak to something much bigger than any one election. They remind us that how we campaign matters just as much as whether we win. Every candidate has the right to advocate for themselves, criticize an opponent's record, and ask voters for their support. Voters deserve spirited campaigns, honest disagreements, and robust debate about issues and qualifications. What they do not deserve are campaigns built upon false statements, misleading claims, or misinformation.
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During the closing weeks of the 2024 campaign, the allegations I consistently maintained were false became a central theme of my opponent Emma Curtis’ campaign. Voters told me they learned about the allegations from Emma or members of her campaign, and I saw similar comments on social media from people who said they would not have known about them otherwise.
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On September 19, 2024, in a Lexington Herald-Leader opinion column, Emma wrote that “some members of Representative Daniel Grossberg's campaign staff have started supporting Monarrez's campaign, with one member going so far as to make a financial contribution.” That statement was false. I never received any support from Representative Daniel Grossberg's campaign staff. One individual, Tyler Norkus, had made a single $25 contribution to my campaign, which was refunded. No other member of Grossberg's campaign staff contributed to my campaign.
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On October 17 and again on November 2, 2024, Emma issued public statements asserting that I should resign from my office and end my campaign. She publicly declared that I had "had my day in court" and could no longer fulfill even the most basic responsibilities of my office. Emma’s statements were self-serving and ignored an important reality. This was a family court proceeding, not a criminal prosecution. I had never been arrested, charged, or convicted of any crime, and I retained my right to seek appellate review. On November 2, when Emma made yet another plea for me to resign, I had not yet filed my intent to appeal.
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Although the order prohibited me from entering City Hall beginning in August 2024, I continued attending council meetings remotely by Zoom, just as the entire Council and Mayor had done during the COVID-19 pandemic. My constituent work did not stop. I continued meeting with residents in their homes, businesses, and neighborhoods, and constituent projects I had been working on continued moving forward. I continued serving the residents of the Fourth District despite the restrictions imposed by the Interpersonal Protective Order.
These are only a few examples. Emma also made false and misleading statements about me, my campaign, and my positions on partisan issues, even though we are running for a nonpartisan office. These are not minor mistakes. Throughout the 2024 campaign, I attempted to respond publicly whenever false or misleading statements were made. Emma blocked me from both her personal and campaign social media accounts, preventing me from responding directly on the platforms where many of these statements were made. I remain blocked today. After taking office, she also blocked me from her Councilmember accounts. I also know of constituents who attempted to ask legitimate questions about her positions or engage with her campaign and were likewise blocked. As a result, many voters heard accusations but not my responses.
Unfortunately, Emma Curtis has continued to publicly repeat and promote the false allegations, as well as other false narratives, throughout the 2026 campaign. For example, she has continued to use social media to raise allegations that were the subject of a Family Court proceeding, despite the fact that I was never arrested or charged with a crime and a Fayette County grand jury later returned NO INDICTMENT.
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I find it deeply troubling that these allegations continue to be used as a political talking point, particularly when I was legally restricted from responding to them when they were first made public. These are not vague references. Emma Curtis has specifically continued to publicly characterize the 2024 allegations as established facts. I believe voters deserve to know the full story.
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Emma Curtis’s campaign raises serious questions about her credibility and integrity, especially now in 2026, when Emma has continued to make additional statements about me that are false and misleading. This is particularly concerning when those statements come from someone who says she is running against “the politics of apathy, anger, and division.”
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False statements, misleading claims, and misinformation contribute to apathy, anger, and division among voters. False statements and misinformation do not reduce division. They deepen it. They erode public trust, damage reputations, and prevent voters from making informed decisions. I believe the residents of the Fourth District deserve better.
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I lost the election by just over 300 votes. I cannot know exactly what influenced each voter or whether any particular statement changed the outcome. But I do know that I was going through one of the most traumatic experiences of my life while also facing a campaign filled with statements about me that I believe were false and misleading. The election was decided by a narrow margin, and that experience reinforced for me how much words and actions matter during a campaign.
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But this is about more than one election. It is about the example we set. Young people are watching us. They are watching how we treat one another, how we respond when we disagree, how we handle adversity, and what we are willing to do to get ahead. I believe those of us who seek to lead have a responsibility to model the qualities we hope to instill in the next generation: honesty, integrity, respect, accountability, compassion, and the courage to stand up for what is right and for the truth. Those values should not disappear simply because an election is at stake.
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I hope the residents of the Fourth District will continue to value those qualities in the people who seek to represent them. I believe our young people deserve to see that leadership does not require tearing others down. It should show them what it means to treat people with dignity, tell the truth, accept responsibility, and lead by example. Voters see enough of the negativity and personal attacks that can accompany campaigns at the state and federal level. Those tactics should not become the standard for how we conduct local elections. Most importantly I hope the residents of the Fourth District will have the opportunity to consider the complete, true story as they decide whether I have earned the privilege of serving them again. full picture. Now I can finally tell my story in my own words. I am doing this for myself, but also for the people who stood by me, supported me, and believed in me without knowing the full story. My hope is that the residents of the Fourth District will have the opportunity to consider the complete, true story as they decide whether I have earned the privilege of serving them again.