LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Republican Ryan Quarles defeated his Democrat opponent Jean-Marie Lawson Spann by a 20 percent margin last week to become Kentucky’s new Commissioner of Agriculture.
He obtained 60 percent of the state’s vote with 563,383 ballots. "Kentucky agriculture is known as being a leader and during my administration, we’re going to continue to marvel people as we innovate our way to the future," said Quarles, 32, in his acceptance speech.
The Georgetown native is a member of the Kentucky House of Representatives, a seat he has held since 2011, where he sits on the Agriculture and Small Business Committee, and is a part-time farmer in Scott County. Previously, he worked for Republican U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell as a consultant for GlobalAgRisk.
Quarles centered his platform on the expansion of Kentucky Proud, international trade, agricultural education for the public and a pushback against EPA regulations he said could harm Kentucky farmers.
"The future of agriculture is bright and I’m glad to plow new ground as we continue the success of the Kentucky Proud marketing program, and continue agricultural education, where we teach kids and young Kentuckians that food does not come from a grocery store, it comes from a family farm.
"We’re going to use our expertise in international trade to help connect farmers to emerging markets and make sure that with any potential trade deals, Kentucky farmers benefit," he explained.
Quarles attended the University of Kentucky (UK), where he earned bachelors’ degrees in political science, agricultural economics and public service and leadership. He received two masters’ degrees at UK in agricultural economics and diplomacy and international commerce before earning a third from Harvard in higher education.
He will be replacing current commissioner James Comer, who opted to run in the state’s Republican gubernatorial primaries in which he narrowly lost to Matt Bevin (who won the governor’s seat last week by a vote of 52 percent). Quarles will be leading an agency which recorded a $35 million budget in 2014.
