Kentucky Ag Commissioner Quarles says he’ll run for governor next year

(The Center Square) – Over the weekend, Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles announced he plans to run for governor next year.

The 38-year-old Republican revealed the news Sunday on WKYT’s Newsmakers. A Georgetown native, Quarles is serving his second term as the state’s top agriculture official and cannot run for re-election in that race next year.

“I feel like I have a strong track record of executive leadership, and I also feel a calling right now that I could provide Kentucky if voters would like more public service and leadership in our state,” he told WKYT’s Bill Bryant.

Gov. Andy Beshear, a Democrat, has already announced plans to seek a second term. Quarles joins State Auditor Mike Harmon on the GOP side, who announced his candidacy last year to get a head start on fundraising.

Quarles and Harmon will likely have more company in a primary a little more than a year away. Kelly Craft, a Kentucky native and former U.S. ambassador to Canada and the United Nations, is considered a likely candidate. Attorney General Daniel Cameron may also enter the race instead of seeking re-election.

Kentucky is a solidly Republican state. The GOP holds 75 of the 100 seats in the state House and 30 of the 38 state Senate seats. Republicans have both U.S. Senate seats and five of the six House seats. The party also holds every state office, except governor and lieutenant governor.

Still, Beshear, who defeated Republican Gov. Matt Bevin by slightly more than 5,000 votes in 2019, may be tough to knock off in the November 2023 race.

Survey results released by Morning Consult last week found Beshear enjoyed a 59% job performance approval rating from voters. That was the highest of any Democratic governor in the country.

According to the poll, only 36% of voters do not like the job he’s done so far.

There have been some contentious battles between Beshear and the Republican-led legislature, particularly regarding the governor’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. Last year, the General Assembly approved a slate of bills over his vetoes that curbed the governor’s executive powers in an emergency. The Kentucky Supreme Court then upheld the new laws after the Beshear administration challenged them.

This past session, which ended last month, saw lawmakers reject the governor’s vetoes on several pieces of legislation, including bills on abortion, school choice and transgender youth playing in girls’ sports.

Quarles, who often criticized Beshear’s COVID-19 policies, said he knows it will likely be a large primary. Still, he feels he can best represent the party on the ballot.

“I think Kentucky needs executive leadership that’s proven,” Quarles said on the show. “One that’s going to be focused on uniting us, not dividing us, and one that I think will give a message of hope and a positive vision for our state.”

A former state lawmaker with degrees from the University of Kentucky, Harvard and Vanderbilt, Quarles said he plans a formal kickoff to his campaign June 1.

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